Rebirth: A Battle Droid Story
by endertwelve
Summary: After the crushing defeat on the First Battle of Geonosis, the Clone Wars is ignited into full force across the galaxy for the CIS. Awakening from the war-torn landscape is one lone B1 battle droid, RK-757. However, this droid has awakened as something else. Across a galactic campaign, Seven will realize that he's more than just a product, as well as his comrades.
1. Chapter 1

What happened?

Why was he on his back?

Why couldn't he move?

Those self-preservation program modules started running through RK-757's circuits as he tried to get his bearings. It was a large chunk of metal. It was unfamiliar what it was from. The sandy surface underneath him cushioned the impact and, after running diagnostics, he wasn't damaged. He actually came out rather cleanly from that.

He maneuvers his arms to try and push the chunk of metal off of him, but his flimsy and thin arms barely made it budge. "Help! Someone!" his high-pitched voice called out. "I'm trapped, I can't move! Please help!" he called out. He couldn't hear anything. It was just the winded sands of Geonosis that howled out against his frame. He tried to push it again, trying to do something. His self-preservation modules wouldn't allow him to give up. Again, he tried to push it off with all of his might, but alas his frame was too weak and feeble. Cheap.

The personality quirk glitches started to come out. Fear. He started to panic a bit as he tried to push it off of him. "Please! Don't leave me! I'm still here! I don't want to be alone here!" he called out pleadingly. Nothing. He started to hyperventilate (something he didn't know he could do) as he looked around frantically to see if someone was there. The chunk of metal covered his vision of the battlefield and he couldn't see anything past the jagged framing of the debris. He continued to panic as he desperately tried to push it off, but nothing would make this hunk of junk give way. He started to feel himself give up, a part of his programming almost deeming itself obsolete that it should power down and deactivate. The program was practically running its course as he started to relax and wind down. Giving up, he was about to let the battery turn off for good.

Something stopped it, though. Something inside him. What was it? Another glitch? Perhaps, but this felt…tangible. Real. Something that he didn't recognize as a mere quirk. It was something that awakened inside him that told him to continue on. To go through with the mission and stop the Republic. What was this feeling? His programming studied it for a minute, only to quickly cut back to the situation at hand: how to get out.

RK-757 tried to push it again, much harder. As much as he could, he goes against his programming deeming it impossible to move it. "Please…give…give…" he muttered under his vocalizer as the chunk wouldn't let up. But he continued to push until it lifted up slightly. In his surprise, he lets go only for it to fall back and rolls over him a bit before settling back to its previous position. "Blast it!" he cursed as he hits the chunk. But it was proof that he _could _do it. He had to continue. He needed to go through with the mission.

He starts to push it again as much as he could, feeling his poor limbs buckle slightly from the intense pressure. Then an idea came to him as he lets go of the chunk. It falls back onto him, but rolls over him a bit. Just as the chunk was about to roll forward, he pushes it again. It went farther this time, but not enough as it rolls back again.

_This time._

He pushes it forward as it rolled over before it finally gave way, revealing the blinding sun hanging over him. "Yes!" he exclaimed happily as he quickly sits up. The first thing that ran to his mind was to find his blaster, but he couldn't find it. He must've lost it in the fight. But his self-preservation modules halted once he got a clear view of the chunk of metal. It was DR4′s eye, the dwarf spider droid that got shot down by an AT-TE shortly after. He was gunned down. Collapsing on his feet, he felt something else crowd up his processors. He felt hollow inside. Not physically, but…in his programming. Like he lost something. Something valuable. As the sands of Geonosis were blown away, he could see more debris. He saw R4-564′s torso upended and head lying right next to it. He saw HK-332 with his entire frame filled with blaster holes. Battle droids, super battle droids, spider droids, all of them. It was a graveyard. And entire platoon of his comrades splintered and butchered down into scrap. The hole inside him grew larger.

"Oh, maker…my friends…" he muttered as he looked around. Was there anyone here? Was he one of the few survivors? Was there anyone left? Was there a point to even continue his programming? Leaning forward, he places his hands on the sandy ground, his hands not even feeling the texture as he kept himself up. This feeling overwhelmed him and he felt empty. Like he should've given up and turned off back there. And a part of him wanted to, willingly. To be done with this suffering. Again, that glitch came back…telling him not to. To keep moving forward. Why? Where was this? _What _was it? Should he listen to it?

...yes.

Yes, he should.

Standing up slowly, he looks again at his fallen brethren and makes a bookmarked program to memorialize the IDs of every droid that perished here. He'd be sure to bookmark _all _of them. Even if his processing was limited, he did not want to forget them. He did not want anyone to forget.

Going over to the corpse of YT-985, he picks up his blaster and checks it. Barely in working condition, but it would be enough. Where should he head? His best option was to head back from where he was deployed, back to one of the camps. Maybe they all hadn't left yet. They did make use of the Geonosian homeland to stockpile munitions and soldiers. Perhaps he could find a mine.

With a feeling that he couldn't find the name for, he jogs onward through the droid graveyard to find a camp. To find his other comrades…if they were still there.

* * *

He was starting to run low on battery as he trekked over the barren landscape. The hidden base had to be somewhere through these canyons. He didn't know why it would still be there, considering that most of the forces must have retreated. But it was all he could hope for now. Hope that they were still there…and that he could live to fight on for another day. Every time he walked, his programming tried to convince him to give up and shut down with the rest. But he wouldn't let it. He refused to give up like this. If he could move that piece of…his brethren off of him, he could push on.

As he continued, he heard a ship revving up its engines. He runs over and sees, from afar, some battle droids and several key members of the Separatist council boarding a C-9979 landing craft. He waves his arms openly as he runs after the craft. "Wait! Don't leave!" he said as he sprinted over to the ship. Just as the landing pad was about to pull up, he jumps onboard and runs inside. He quickly grabs an arm handle and looks around to see a very small band of battle droids like him, folded in and recharging. He didn't know any of them.

He sighs quietly as he rubs his head. Something changed in him back there. He woke up a completely different droid than how he was before. Yes, he had his quirks like the rest of them. But something awakened inside him that he needed to figure out, to understand what he was going through.

He decided that he would refer to himself as Seven. His official designation was before when he was a mere clanker, a cog in the machine. Now, he was something else. Something _more_. What that was, he wasn't sure. He pondered on this perplexing concept as the ship pulled out of Geonosis' atmosphere.

That time could wait, though. He needed to recharge, as his battery was near depletion. He goes over to a nearby corner and folds himself in as he goes into sleep mode. Tomorrow was another day…


	2. Chapter 2

Once he was fully charged, his programs resumed and jump-started his motor systems. Unfolding, he stood up and looked around. Only a small few droids of the remaining band were there. Perhaps they were on the bridge. He then remembered his blaster as he looks at it. It was still just as damaged and worn-down as when he had picked it up. There were several chips of paint, scratch marks from rocks (he assumed _and _hoped), and several blast marks. These things were pretty durable.

Programming was deeming it useless to carry around, since it wasn't fulfilling its duty of elimination in optimal fashion. That awakened part of him told him to keep it. To remember what he lost…and what he gained.

He picks a station and plants it there, looking around and placing a jury-rigged proxy program to prevent inspection and detection from any overseeing tactician droids.

Heading up to the bridge of the landing craft, he could see several members talking in worry and annoyance. Considering the loss they endured and the realization that they were at war against literal killing machines (not his kind), he'd be worried too. And he was. His kind wasn't made to last, to endure like they were. He was cheaply made to be cannon fodder, but overall an overwhelming force to swarm. Tactics, strategies, those were left for the command droids, tactician droids, and generals. Not that they ever tried to preserve the droids they sent off to their deaths anyway, a sentiment that he was starting to…have strong feelings against.

It was quite surprising (but also unsurprising) how little anyone cared or noticed his presence. He didn't particularly stick out like a sore thumb to the council, the tactician droid, or even some of his own kind. They were too busy trying to dock with a _Munificent_-class star frigate, designation _Trespasser_. He saw several Vultures flying around the ship for cover in case there were any lingering Republic cruisers nearby on patrol. Geonosis was in Republic hands for now. They had to be careful.

As the ship brought itself inside and landed firmly, the council members were quick to leave to speak with Dooku, for all he knew. Seven wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. Was fighting a viable option anymore? Desertion? Those thoughts tempted him and they were as gone as quickly as they were conceived. He had a mission to fulfill, and he'd stay in the game for as long as his chassis and programming deemed it.

"Hey" a voice called out.

Seven jumped a bit as he spun around. It was another of his kind, stationed to the controls of the landing craft. "You're not a part of this detachment, are you?" he asked. Seven looked at the other and shakes his head.

"No, I'm not" he answered.

"Where did you come from? How did you find us?"

"I was on the battlefield. I remembered about this place-"

"What?!" the droid yelled. Seven jumped and waved his hands down. "Shh!" he urged.

The droid looked around again, but it didn't seem like anyone noticed. "How did you survive?" the other asked him.

"A piece of debris fell on me…I got lucky."

"Very few of us _ever _survive a battle, let alone live to tell it! What's your designation?"

A part of him wanted to tell his full name, for his sense of empowerment. But, he decided to stick to standard procedure. He didn't want to attract any unnecessary attention for a droid that was starting to think more. "RK-757″ he told him.

"Front lines! That's impressive. Did you get any kills?"

"A few" he said.

"You got kills and lived…this is one for the books, 757."

"Now you're just trying to flatter me."

The other droid looked around. "What about…that thing?" Seven tilted his head a bit.

"Your glitch. I can see it." If Seven had a heart and could sweat, it would sink and he would feel cold. Though, his motivators would be a good placeholder for that.

"What…what do you mean?" he asked quietly.

"There's something inside you that's…not like the other droids. Something more than just self-preservation protocols. It's bizarre."

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Seven dismissed. He didn't want anyone to see him for what he was now. It was dangerous to be seen like this.

The other droid looked like he didn't want to relent, but he does for 757′s sake. "You should get into the _Trespasser_. They're amassing a small platoon of us."

"Why?"

He shrugs. They weren't meant to think that far ahead. Just to follow orders.

Seven nodded as he heads out. He turns around and gives a small salute to the other droid. "Stay safe out there" Seven called out to him.

The other salutes as well. "Roger roger."

Seven headed out of the landing craft and was greeted by a large platoon of various droids working in perfect conjunction and operating small craft, polishing and loading blasters, checking munitions. Standard procedure. Seven maneuvers through the crowds as best as he could, bumping into some of them every so often as his mind was elsewhere. Did they even know what happened at Geonosis? Did they even care? Did any of them recognize the futility in a fight like that? Did they even know of a strategy?

He stopped there. There never was a strategy. Even he should know better than that.

None of the droids noticed his presence aside from when he bumped into them by accident, asking him to get the rust out of his processors. Rude, but warranted. Was there even going to be a briefing? Did droids ever have briefings for their campaigns? He didn't remember ever having something like that during his time before deployment on Geonosis.

But he had to link up to the mainframe of the ship to know what his objectives were. Reaching a station, he links up and gains the info (or lack-thereof). The planet was a snow planet called Bozin V. Thank the maker he wasn't organic, because it definitely looked cold there. They were to deploy near an outpost in Republic territory and swarm it. Standard strategy. They would have the entire platoon here be on the eastern side of the outpost, the far right of the whole battalion as they would charge in headfirst into the base. They were equipped with AAT's, dwarf spider droids, and the standard super battle droids and his kind leading the main assault.

If it had to be done that way, so be it. He just hoped that things would work differently this time…and something told him it wouldn't.

Linking up and arming himself with a clean and fresh E-5 blaster rifle, he waits on the docks of the ship for the cold road ahead that lie in wait for him and the platoon. No words were spoken, no sentiments passed around, no good lucks.

Just cold silence for the war to come.


	3. Chapter 3

"I can feel my rotors freezing up..." a droid muttered.

"Pipe down" a super battle droid intoned in his much deeper voice. "We're getting into position, commander" he chimed to the tactician droid.

"Good" the tactician droid droned. "Once you reach the rendezvous point, hold position until further notice."

"Understood" the droid stated before the rest of the battalion marched on. Behind him were a good 30 battle droids, 15 super battle droids, 3 dwarf spider droids, and 5 AATs. Considering that this was the eastern front of the clone HQ, there must've been more in the central lines where the priorities lied most.

Somewhere in between the small platoon, Seven marched along with them in perfect unison as he always did. The planet was rather beautiful to look at. Many of the droids took note of its beauty as well, but not as much as Seven could now. The way the snow blew across the tundras, the sun shining down on the cold planet despite gathering no warmth whatsoever, the frosted hills and frozen icicles hanging off of the edges. It was quite the sight. Though, he was perfectly comfortable taking in the beauty _visually_. Feeling temperatures reach near below zero wasn't exactly something he would consider _beautiful_.

After several miles of walking across the snowscape, they halted at the precipice of a snow hill that lead down to a large fortress of sorts. As Seven took it in, the super battle droid from earlier commanded him to scan the fortress. Pulling out his recently-issued macrobinoculars, he studies any possible armaments of the fortress. Thanks to the snow, most of the walls were covered and coated. But, from what he saw, there weren't any defenses of the sort. Strange, considering that this seemed to be a rather important settlement for a Republic base. There were battlement openings for soldiers to peer through and shoot at, but it was pointless to pull out of cover to fire at this distance

Pulling down the macrobinoculars, he looks to the super. "No defenses of the sort, sir" he said.

"Good" he stated simply. Seven saw the super ready to relay the info, but Seven interrupted with an inquiry.

"But don't you find it strange, sir?" he asked him.

"What?"

"That there are no defenses?'

"No. I'm only relaying the information that you told me."

"But isn't the lack of defenses a bit troubling? Don't you think they would be arming themselves to the teeth with the forces we've amassed?"

"That's not our problem."

"It's going to be if we don't expect a surprise attack."

"This is a concern that isn't mine nor yours. Get back in line and await further orders like _you're instructed_."

Seven sighs. "Roger roger..." he muttered before he heads off, the super relaying the info back as he said he would. This feels like another defeat waiting to happen. He didn't want to see more dead droids because of hindsight. But what could he do? He was a simple infantryman, it's not like he had the makings of a commander droid. But common sense must think that this is a bad plan of attack, right? Seven honestly hoped that the tactician droid would know this.

The super battle droid chimed in to the platoon. "We are to remain here until further orders. We do not attack, we do not scout. Keep the AATs and dwarf spider droids up front and lined up at the fortress. If you see anything in the field that looks like a clone, Jedi, or Republic asset, shoot to kill with extreme prejudice, on sight, has been authorized."

Was it smart to lay out all of their artillery at the foot of the hill for the enemy to see? It's not like they're going to attack right away. If the enemy could see all their cards on the table, they could counterattack accordingly. Seven felt like he needed to fall in line, but he had to speak up. "Sir, if they see our tanks, they'll be ready for us. Maybe we should conceal and leave our tanks away from the hill unti-"

"I'm following orders, 757. You best do that, too."

Seven shakes his head. "Roger roger" he stated in defeat. This wasn't going to end well.

Several hours passed as the droids kept watch and tried to spy for any activity. Some AAT spotters counted several animals out in the field during their patrol. A few questioned whether those counted as Republic assets or not. Seven wondered if they were being serious or not. Boredom could make a droid want some action or just make their systems shut down. In cold and boring weather like this, he could understand why. Nothing happened during that time and it was a bit unnatural for the Republic. Seven would've expected an attack hours ago, or an LAAT strike on their position. But nothing was spotted, nothing was accounted for. Just the cold wind and several Bozinian creatures.

Seven took the time to learn some tactics and weapons. He needed to adapt if he didn't want to end up like another gunned-down droid back on Geonosis. He studied the E5s sniper rifle and the E-60R missile launcher heavily in the meantime. The sniper rifle had quite the nozzle and a very large but variable scope. It contained several magnifications that could be adjusted easily. However, the magazine size was small, containing a mere 4 shots total. Why? Another question that could easily be answered by the Trade Federation's stance on the issue as it did with many others: it was cheaper. Smaller magazine size could create more of them at an efficient rate. And it's not like the droids needed to be absolute marksmen with it since they're just as replaceable as the guns they wield. Basically, make your shots count.

As for the Techno Union-made missile launcher, it came with its fair share of pros and cons. The good was that, unlike the sniper rifle, the missile launcher was able to have at least 1 rocket in the launcher itself and 6 on reserve; a total of 7 rockets to be used. In addition, when at close range, the rockets would home in on targets on their own. The bad? The launcher was equipped with a surplus viewfinder scope, which meant that aiming would have to be manual. Another cost-cutting measure. Seems to be a trend for the CIS, lately. And they barely started this war.

Several droids noticed this strange behavior and questioned him about it, but Seven merely stated that he was checking to make sure that they were both in working order. Most of them left it at that. All except one, that is. One battle droid, one that was more curious than the others, approached Seven and asked him the same question as the others did: "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking to make su-"

"No, you're not. What are you _doing_?" he asked, a bit firmly. Surprised by the boldness, Seven turns from his work and looks back at the other battle droid.

"Do you think I'm capable of lying?" Seven asked.

"I didn't at first. Now? I'm not so sure."

"Well, who wants to know?"

"I do."

"Why?"

"...because you're being suspicious."

If Seven could roll his hypothetical eyes, they would be in the back of his processors. "Report me to the superior if you want, I'll tell them everything like I've told the others." The other droid was quiet for a moment before he takes a knee beside the other. "Are you learning how the weapons work?"

Seven was silent.

"...that is what you're doing, isn't it?"

"Yes" he relented. "Is that a problem to the tactician?"

"I don't know..."

Seven looked at him quizzically. "...did you come here on your own?" The droid nodded. That was strange. A droid was never _this _curious about something like this.

"Well...I'm trying to learn how these weapons work. I was a standard infantryman, so I want to know how other weapons work."

"You're not programmed to these weapons specifically?"

"No. I know the E-5, but that's it."

"Why learn something that you're not programmed to know? You weren't created to be a sniper or heavy weapons expert. _How _are you even able to learn this? Our processing is limited."

Seven shrugs. "I dunno...I just ignored those limitations." The other droid looked at him like he was making up poodoo. Seven sighs. "I can't explain it, but...I just...I chose to. I wanted to learn this. I don't plan on becoming another piece of scrap metal for the war to come, so I want to learn how to adapt if the situation arises."

The other droid was quiet for a minute as he looked at the weapons and then at him. "...what's your designation?" he asked him.

"RK-757..." he said before looking at him. "But...you can call me Seven."

The droid looked at him curiously. "I'm VT-366″ he said to him, but he looks down in thought for a second. So, he was a sniper. Maybe he'd learn a thing or two about how to operate the sniper rifle from him. "...you can call me...Six-six."

Seven chuckled a bit, his processors lighting up a bit. Was Six-six starting to have that same glitch, too? How did it come out? "You're calling yourself Six-six, now?"

"Yeah! Why, should it be something else?"

"No, it shouldn't. It's _your_ name, and that's what makes it special."

"I suppose."

"Do you mind if I call you Six?"

Six-six thought for a moment and shrugs. "I guess so. Is it a mouthful?"

"Little bit."

Six chuckled a bit at that, until an AAT several lines down from where they were explodes into metal and debris.

"Everyone get down!" a droid yelled out as Seven, Six, and the rest hit the deck. The AATs and dwarf spider droids started firing randomly at the base ahead.

"No, what are they doing?!" Seven yelled out among the cannon shots.

"I don't know!" Six yelled out.

"Seize fire, seize fire!" Seven yelled out, but the tactician droid must have relayed different information, or not at all. Because they didn't stop firing. A dwarf spider droid was destroyed in the meantime, down 4 AATs and 2 dwarf spider droids.

Then, a super battle droid's chassis burst open from a sniper shot, oil pluming out onto the snow as he collapsed with a loud whine. A battle droid met a similar fate, except hiss head was torn off cleanly instead.

"C'mon, Six!" he called out as he crawls over to the precipice, next to an AAT firing down at the base.

"Are you crazy?!" Six yelled out before he hesitantly crawls behind him. The repulsorlift engines hummed loudly next to Seven as Six came up beside him.

"I need you to find those snipers and take them out!"

"Where?!"

"Just find them! I need to redirect at least _one _tank."

He starts banging hard on the tank. Nothing in the comms chatter. He bangs it again.

"What?!" one of the passengers yelled out through the local channel.

"Stop firing at the base and listen!" Seven said as he pulls out his macrobinoculars. Six continued to try and scope out the snipers.

"Where in the blazes are they firing from?!" Six muttered. A cannon shot fires past them and the AAT as Seven quickly uses the binoculars and spots an AT-TE on the cliffside adjacent to the base.

"Adjust fire on my coordinates, AT-TE at 2-5!" he yelled out as he watches for the tank. The AT-TE looked like it was adjusting its aim, as well, as the cannon turned back towards their position. And if Seven knew anything, it was that clones never missed a second time.

To Seven's surprise, the cannon shot from their AAT pierced through the air as the ground underneath them rumbled from the sheer force and the snow being blown back while the tank was pushed back slightly. Seven recovered in a split second as he watches the AT-TE explode and fall down off the cliffside.

"Nice!" Six yelled out.

"Good effect on target, T-4!" Seven called out. He could hear some cheering inside the cockpit, but the fight wasn't over yet. A dwarf spider droid's leg was blown off as it collapsed in the snow. "I got 'em, Seven" Six said. "Tank at 4-7, with some snipers along the ridgeline."

Seven checked and it was dead on. Two snipers were perched alongside the tank as it looked like they were reloading from their last shot. "T-4, tank at 4-7! Snipers on the ridgeline, make it snappy!" he called out before he looked at Six-six.

"Six?" he asked him.

"I got one of them, grab the other sniper and take out the other" he said, his eyes not veering from the scope as he grabs the sniper and hands it to him. Seven was a bit unsure of grabbing it, since he had no experience with it yet. Might as well learn now. He pulls it up to his chassis and looks through the scope. It was a bit heavier than the E-5, but it was manageable. He adjusts the magnification to the ridge and spots them.

"Which one?" Seven asked.

"Left, I got right" Six muttered. The tank fires its shot at the AT-TE as it bursts into flames and collapses. Six and Seven were quick on the dot to fire at the snipers. Six got his shot, but Seven merely wounded the other by hitting the clone's arm. The clone seemed to retract his injured arm and was about to retreat. "Seven, get him!" Six yelled out.

Seven made sure to steady his aim as he fires at the clone straight through the helm. He didn't miss that time.

* * *

After several tank callouts and snipers being gunned down, the ambush was outdone. But they were down 19 battle droids, 10 super battle droids, and 2 dwarf spider droids (one that was missing a leg). While they only lost 1 AAT, it was one less firepower for the oncoming battle. They were butchered down. And this was just the eastern front, he didn't know how bad it was at the other fronts. He wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know, either.

Seven sighed quietly before the super battle droid superior from earlier storms up to him. "What were you doing?" he commanded.

"Saving our platoon."

"You're _not _a command droid. You do _not _give the orders."

"The tactician droid didn't do anything! We downed at least 5 tanks and several snipers. We saved this assault!"

"The tactician droid doesn't care. You do what you're told, end of discussion!" he said before storming off.

Seven sighed quietly as Six goes up to him and pats his back. "Don't listen to him. You saved us, and I think the other droids know that." Seven shook his head.

"They're not fighting the right way, Six. We're gonna lose this war if we're depending on numbers alone."

The operator and loader for the AAT, T-4, walks up to them. "You're RK-757, right?" the operator asked. Seven nods. "You saved our rear ends back there. And we scored some tanks, more than what any command droid would ever give us! Thanks...honest."

"Though, you _could _give me a moment to load the cannons next time" the loader joked.

Seven sighs quietly and shrugs. "I just want as few casualties as possible" he said.

"Well, you sure showed us that you can. If you need any more help in the next battle, you know where to find us" the loader said as the operator nodded in agreement. They did a salute as Seven saluted back, replying with "roger roger" as always.

As they went off, Six looked back at Seven. "So, how was your first time learning a sniper rifle?" he asked.

"Fidgety" Seven replied.

Six chuckled. "Well, you're gonna have to show me how to work that rocket launcher. You know better than I do" he said.

Seven smiled in his programming as he heads off back to their wounded platoon with Six-six in tow.

This mission was far from over, though. There were plenty of opportunities to learn from this fight...but it could lead to much risk. Hopefully, Seven was willing to take it.


	4. Chapter 4

Seven wondered what snowflakes felt like. His visuals caught what each snowflake looked like, no pattern ever being the same. It was strange and mesmerizing to look at. How did every small, fleeting flake that fell from the sky always have something different created? It was a strange thing to ponder.

It was something that Six made note of as he goes over to him. "I've only met you for a few hours and you seem like you're on the fritz half the time."

Seven shook his head silently, not saying anything. "What happened on Geonosis? What made you turn into..._this_?" he asked. Seven shrugged.

"I don't know. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me. Like I can understand things better...that I can process things faster with more accessibility and reason rather than just simply following orders because I don't understand them. It's...freeing. I feel like I can take charge of myself for once. I don't have to rely on someone else." He then looks at Six. "Of course, on some things. Sniping isn't one of them."

"Yeah, you're a pretty average shot" Six criticized jokingly.

"Considering I got a good...3 kills, I'd say that's a win."

"Rookie" Six stated.

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here listening to you run your vocalizer."

Six-six laughed at that as he looks out at the snow again from the cave, the moonlight barely shining through the clouded blizzard that raged outside. "What does light feel like?" Six suddenly asked. Seven looked at him quizzically. "Huh?" he asked him.

"What does light feel like?" he repeated. "Do you think it feels like a wave? Is it a surge, a jolt? Does light even feel like anything?" he asked him. Seven thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "You'd have to ask a clone, when you're not shooting him."

Six scoffed as he crossed his arms. "This war is something else, Seven. I don't know what you did with all of you being a hero today, but I'm starting to realize a lot of things. A lot of things I feel like were better when my personality quirks weren't being exploited by you" he said.

Seven held his hands up. "Hey, I didn't do anything. Well, as far as I know, that is." They both fell silent for a moment before Six spoke up. "How many droids did you know on that field, Seven?" Seven didn't answer at first. It was a bit much to think about...something he didn't think would affect him this heavily.

"A lot. Almost everyone. We were all bred from the same programming block. Marched, deployed, and fought with all of them. Spider droids, dwarf spiders, supers" He looks at Six-six. "us, _Hailfire _droids, practically the whole blasted army." Seven was silent for a moment. "And they all died there..." he muttered.

"Not all of them" Six stated. Seven looked back at him.

"I kinda wish I did" he said.

Six scoffed again. "Well, too bad. You're stuck with us, clanker" he joked. Seven laughed a bit at that. It was nice to have someone that understood...to know that he wasn't the only person to feel and know the weight of loss. Which begged the question...

"Have you been like this before, Six?" he asked him. Six looked at him and then back at the blizzard. "No...I...I don't think so. It feels like...it was there from the beginning...but also not. Is that strange?" Six asked him.

Seven shook his head. "No. It's not. It's been the same way for me, too."

"Why is that?" Six asked him.

"I don't know...this glitch..._thing _inside us...it's not a part of our natural programming. It's strange."

"Like you said, it's freeing. But...It feels like a weight, too..." Six said.

"So far...yeah..." Seven muttered.

After several minutes of silence, Six sighed as he hoisted his sniper rifle onto his back. "I'm heading back to the camp. You enjoy watching that frozen water you love so much" he said as he heads off, waving at him.

Seven waves back as he continues to watch the scenery. His mind was elsewhere. He was wondering what their next plan of attack was going to be. Or rather, what it _should _be. This tactician droid, he learned, was almost like every other droid he's known: programmed to be stupid. The only problem was that this tactician droid's stupidity was affecting the _entire battalion_. This droid was going to kill them with how basic and simple their attacks were. Seven had to come up with a battle plan if they were going to take this base.

Then he wondered if this base would lead to somewhere. Maybe...

He grabs his blaster rifle and goes over to Six, who was hanging out with a few other droids. "Hey, I need you for something" Seven said.

Six looked at him with programming akin to a frown before he gets up and hoists his sniper rifle. Seven starts to navigate deeper into the frozen cave, against their orders, to scout ahead. Six followed in tow, but not without his questions. "Where in the blazes are you going?" he asked him.

"Whatever that tactician droid is doing is not for our benefit."

"You think he's doing it on purpose?"

"No, he's just stupid."

Six let out a "Hah!" at that.

"I want to see if this cave leads somewhere..." he muttered as Six was behind him. But someone was keeping their eyes on them as they traversed down the cave.

The deeper they went, the more they started noticing small bonfires and blasters lying around. And not their own. Six-six picks up one of them and notices the make. "Clones!" he rasped.

Seven looked at it as well. "Scouting parties. They're preparing to make an attack and flank us."

"Nerf herding scum!" Six growled as he slams the rifle to the ground. "We have to get back and tell the commander" he said but then stops himself just as Seven was about to say something. "Or...better yet..."

Seven could see the glitch that the droid from the landing craft on Geonosis was talking about. Six was starting to become smarter, adaptable. He noticed a flaw in the clones' plan. Seven nods. "Yes" he confirmed.

Six chuckled darkly. "We can lead this back to the base and invade them from the inside."

"But there's a problem with that" Seven stated, arms crossed.

Six frowns hypothetically before he looks back in the direction of their group. Then, once the pieces came together, he sighs. "No artillery to come through with us."

"Exactly."

Six sighs as he facepalms. They didn't have nearly enough manpower on their side alone to even warrant a sneak attack. 19 battle droids and 10 super battle droids wouldn't nearly eliminate whatever forces the clones have amassed beyond the walls.

Seven thinks on it as well. "...we could shell the fortress with the artillery that we have, create a distraction. Then, we sneak inside, lay down the gates, and let the army pass through."

Six was intrigued, but curious. "How do we get the other forces to swarm the fort once that's done, though? Also wouldn't the artillery, supposing there are any in that clone base, destroy them on sight?"

"We can sneak around and find any intel. They must have a rallying point for vehicles and weapons, we can find the gathering point and destroy them there. And others that are already deployed, we can find in their battle plans."

"But that implies we're good at stealth."

Seven smirked. "We made it this far, haven't we?"

They heard two voices coming nearby. And it wasn't a couple of vocalizers. Seven and Six-six hide nearby around the corner as they saw two shadows approach nearby. "I thought I heard voices down here" one said with a heavy accent. Clones, no doubt.

"C'mon, Travis. You think clankers are smart enough to even think about going down here?" he asked the other. They were getting closer as the clones were about to peer around the corner. Before they could, however, a loud and reverberating bang was sounded as one fell down with a hard thud. "WHAT THE-" was all the last clone could say before he, too, was blasted down.

Seven and Six peered around the corner and saw another battle droid standing nearby with a shotgun.

"Who in the blazes are you?!" Six yelled out, to which Seven shushed him harshly. They were still in enemy territory.

"I'm TY-967...I saw you guys heading down the cave, so..."

"So you followed us?" Seven asked.

He simply nodded. Six sighs as he gets up and goes over to him. "At least you saved our behinds with that shotgun of yours, engineer" he said as he pats his shoulder.

967 was a bit surprised by the gesture, not really understanding why these two droids were so..._emotive_. Seven goes up to him and looks at him. "You can't tell anyone about this."

"But, I'm ordered to-"

"I _know _what you're ordered to do. But we've found a secret passageway into the base that we can sneak into and take from inside. For now, I need you to keep this quiet and between the three of us. And _only _the three of us. Is that clear?"

The engineer was a bit taken aback by this. He didn't expect to be taking orders from _another _battle droid, one that didn't even have the markings or programming modules of a command droid. But...he nodded in understanding silently.

"Good. Now, let's head back...and come up with something quick. When they realize that these clones are dead, they'll know that we know."

With that, the three of them hurried off back to base. Things were heating up and they needed to act swiftly if they were to take fortress. And they'd have to do it within hours, with a butchered party, without artillery to back them up on the way through and inside.

Then again, uphill battles were the droid army's forte.


	5. Chapter 5

"If we don't act now, they'll attack us quickly. We need to gather our forces and sneak inside, now" Seven stated to the super.

"You went against orders and you've compromised our battalion!"

"They were going to flank us, regardless! We found a way inside and we can get the rest of the platoons inside if we open the gates. But we need to infiltrate _now_ and quietly!"

The super looked at him in frustration and shakes his head. "Since we have no other option and comms are down from the storm...we'll attack preemptively."

_Finally, something!_

Seven quickly formulates a plan. "We need to tell the artillery ahead of time, set a time frame for them to fire on the base and distract them. After that, we'll find the artillery positions, call in an air stri-"

"We don't have any air units."

Seven looked at him like he had a few bolts loose.

"They cost too much for deployment, especially on a snow planet with little to no visibility. I don't make the plans, 757." Seven sighed as he facepalmed.

"Fine. We'll take down the artillery on our own. Once we've rigged explosives, we'll open the gates and destroy the artillery at the same time and bring the rest of the army in to finish off the stragglers."

"What about the tanks?"

"We'll destroy those, too."

"You don't have enough explosives."

"We'll think of something" Seven blurted out. He didn't know that he could say things without thinking them. He was desperate to get this plan underway and prevent any more losses. The super looked at him before nodding. "Fine. We'll be under your command for the time being. But once that blizzard is gone, _you _and Iwill answer to the tactician droid and _only _the tactician droid. Is that understood?"

"Roger roger" Seven stated.

"Good. Then let's get to work."

"You want us to _what_?" T-4′s operator asked.

"Wait half an hour and order the rest of the artillery to fire on the base."

"Because that worked out so great last time..." the loader muttered sarcastically.

"If they start firing back at you, pull back _immediately_. Unless you see the gates down, do not charge or provide covering fire. You all are valuable assets in this fight and if we lose you, we're as good as done." The AAT crew felt a bit empowered by that, not expecting an honor from another of their kind like that.

"What about you guys? You won't have any covering fire."

"We'll make it work."

"How?"

"I don't know."

The operator and the loader both looked at him. "...you don't know?"

"No."

The loader laughed while the operator facepalmed. "That's encouraging" the operator muttered.

"We'll be fine. I'll improvise what we need to do, but we have to do this within the hour before it's too late. Promise me you'll get this done" he said. The droids looked at him confusedly.

"...promise? What do you mean...?" Did they not understand that concept? Did Seven even understand that? Where did that even come from? He shakes his head.

"Just...please get it done" he pleaded.

"...all right" the operator said, the loader nodding with a salute and a "roger roger."

Seven sighed in relief before he heads back into the cave, rallying up with Six. "We getting this underway?" Six asked. Seven nodded. "Let's hustle" he said as Seven turns to their platoon. "Follow me and keep it quiet!" he yelled out before they went deep into the cave.

* * *

"See anything?" Jarvis asked. Yelsin shook his head.

"Nope, nothing. We're pretty much as clear as we've always been these past few hours."

"I still can't believe those clankers were able to destroy most of our tanks and snipe out our boys. I hope we blast them to hell after tonight."

"We'll see. A patrol that went into the cave hasn't been back for a while."

"Maybe they found something?"

Yelsin shrugged as he continued to peer through his macrobinoculars. "Who knows?" Jarvis sighed as he hugged his DC-15 blaster rifle to his chest.

"Doesn't help that this blasted blizzard is freezing. I can feel myself getting frostbite."

"I hear that-hold up..." Yelsin cut himself off. Jarvis perked up a bit as he adjusted his rifle to ready position. "You seein' something?" he asked.

"Tanks and spiders are rallying at the hill!" Jarvis felt the blood running through his veins as he arms himself up. "What are they up to?" Suddenly, an AAT cannon shot was heard as it slams into the stone wall. "They're firing?! Why?!"

"Who cares?! Just fire back and take them out!"

**-30 minutes earlier...-**

"About 30 clones, 4 AT-TEs, 3 artillery stations" Six muttered as he peered through the scope. The platoon was huddled near the cave entrance as they tried to get a visual on the overall situation.

"More than enough time. Let's get to work" Seven said as he splits them up into groups. One goes to take out the artillery, another to the tanks, and the other to the gate. Seven leads the artillery team, Six to the gate, and newly appointed TY-967 to the tanks. After all, engineers knew how to dismantle them the best.

Seven sneaks by some of the clone regiments as they went over to one of the artillery stations. He quietly beckons one of the battle droids with the detpacks to hand it over, the droid quickly (and quietly) huddling over and handing one of them over. With only a total of 5 detpacks, they would have to use three of them on the artillery and the other two on the tanks. 967 would have to get creative with dismantling the other two tanks.

Seven plants one of them on the artillery station. One down. After a quick hustle to the next one, they plant it again like so. But once they got to the third one, they saw a lone clone hanging back and guarding it. Seven tried to think of what to do as he grabs a nearby rock and tosses it away from the party. The clone jumps in surprise and spins around. Seven had to act quick as he runs up and swings his blaster at the back of his neck. Though battle droids were weak, he swung with all of his might as it knocked out the clone instantly. The other droids were stunned, as well as Seven to an extent. But shaking off his stupor, he plants the last detpack as they head back to the cave entrance, hoping that the others will have done their parts.

967′s endeavor was pretty difficult. There was the most traffic in that area, considering that their tanks were highly valuable. 967 panicked a bit thinking about it, not sure if he was even able to process this with his limited programming. But Seven and Six-six believed in him to get the job done...and he wasn't about to fail them. 967 and his party observe the patrols and try to gauge some openings for infiltration. Spotting a gap, they quickly slip into the small compound and split up to the tanks. Two of them quickly plant detpacks on the main consoles. The other three weren't sure what to do. 967 decides that the best thing to do was to decommission the tank, removing the paneling as quietly as he could as he removes the main motor procedures to the AT-TE. Quietly over their small range comms, he instructs them what to do as they follow suit. Another part of the plan come to fruition.

Six's engagement had been a mix of easy-going and stressful. Patrols were varying at the front of the gate. Some would pass by, some would come in large groups to rally at another part of the fort. It was a blasted convention half the time. Through sheer cunning and luck, Six manages to sneak his party up to the top of the gate's controls. There, he saw a few clones hanging around near the consoles. Blasting them would alert the whole compound, so he quietly points at a droid and then at their target. They'd have to eliminate them stealthily.

As each droid quietly sneaks up on their victims, they knock them out almost in unison. Six heads outside and looks at the cave entrance, flashing his macrobinoculars at it.

From afar, 967 and Seven had already regrouped at the cave entrance and noticed the flash. "What's our window, 757?" 967 asked.

Six checked the time and looked out at the hills where the AATs and dwarf spider droids assembled. "On schedule."

"But what about the rest of the battalion?"

"Six has got it figured out. Get ready to detonate on my mark..."

**-Present time...-**

As the clones were being bombarded, the sirens of the fort sounded loudly throughout the cold night. "What the hell are they doing?!" Jarvis yelled out amongst the cacophony. Soon, they heard several explosions from inside the base as they turned and saw a couple of tanks and their artillery get blown to smithereens. "What's going on?!"

"We've been infiltrated!" Yelsin yelled out as he grabs his rifle. From beyond the walls, they saw the entire droid army pouring down the center and the western front in full force, firing at the gate and marching towards the fortress. The rest of their tanks and dwarf spider droids amassed at the apexes of the hills and started firing as well.

"We have to leave! Now!" Jarvis yelled out as they run down from the battlements. From inside the base, Seven takes up sniping practice and starts picking off snipers and rocket teams. 967 observes but also tries to fire down some stragglers with a blaster rifle while the others went down to the compound to assist in the assault. The clones were being pincer attacked inside as they were surrounded on all sides: from within and without. Within minutes, the droids swarm the fortress and eliminate all hostiles inside. The fort was theirs.

* * *

"Insubordination! Misconduct! Contempt!" the tactician droid droned. Seven didn't care. He had won, and the droids knew that also.

"My apologies, sir. I won't let it happen again." Did he lie just now? A droid was capable of lying? That was a first. There seemed to be plenty of that today.

"The Confederacy will expect you to fall in line and obey my orders, or you'll be disassembled into the scrap heap you are!" the droid angrily droned before signing off.

"I think he's mad" Six said sarcastically.

"You think so?" Seven asked just as sarcastically.

Six just shrugs. "A hunch. Good job out there, commander."

"I'm not a commander."

"You sure act and lead like one. I think many droids here can attest to that."

"I'm just trying to win with as few deaths as possible."

"That's a tall order, considering what we are."

"So was this assault."

Six-six smiles through his programming. "So was this assault" he repeated back before heading off.

Seven looked up as the Bozinian moon, now in full view and full glow, basked down upon him. A part of him wondered what light felt like, too.

How could he lead an army of droids that knew so little? Was it even possible? Looking over at 967, he sees him studying the blaster rifle he had earlier, despite not being programmed to wield it.

If he could convert two of these droids, maybe he _just _might with the others.

And they just might have a chance at this war.


	6. Chapter 6

Converting and enlightening other droids was proving to be a timely endeavor. Seven and Six were both starting to realize that trying to tell droids that they're more than what they think would lead them to being snubbed, ignored, or just being called out as loose headcases. They couldn't even _process _their worth, that's how limited their intelligence was.

Seven crossed his arms as the latest group of droids marched off past him and Six. "Why can't they understand, Seven?" Six asked. "There's nothing special about us, we're just like every other droid! And we can help them to understand their own self-worth. Why won't they listen?!"

"Because they refuse to. They won't take the time to know that they aren't limited by the capacitors and processors that are inside them. We're told that we're stupid, cheap, and made only to die. But that's not true! We're more than just cogs in the machine, we're more than just cannon fodder. We have a will to live, we have sentience. Just because they put a small processing chip inside us doesn't mean we're limited to anything and everything. My eyes just happened to open a bit sooner than others. And yours did when you took the time to listen."

"They're limiting themselves on purpose, though. It's counter-intuitive!"

"It is. And there's nothing we can do about it, Six. We need to have patience. Cull the wheat from the chaff, find the people that are willing to take the time to know, to learn, and to understand. Only then will we reach out to more of them and they will know their own self-worth."

"Who knows how long that will take..." Six muttered, shaking his head.

"However long it takes. We _are _droids, after all. It's not like we have an expiration date."

Six nodded. "True."

Soon, two droids walked up to them curiously. "We heard what you were saying to the others earlier. We were listening and...we were curious what you meant."

Seven and Six-six looked at each other before they looked back at the duo. "What were you curious about?" Seven asked.

"You said that we're limiting ourselves to what we're capable of. That we're not just products. What did you mean?"

"Exactly what we meant."

The droid tilted his head.

"Take the time to learn yourself, friend. Surround your processors in only you and try to understand what it is that _you _want, not what your programming wants."

"What..._I _want?"

"Yes."

"But...I don't know how."

"You do. It's already there, you just need to find yourself."

"I...I can't do it, sir."

"Yes, you can! Quitter talk means you've already lost. We're not programmed to give up, we're programmed to fight! And if there's a problem, we have to fix it another way. And I know you can do it, because all of that potential lies in all of us, no matter what kind of droid we're programmed to be."

The duo looked at him like he had a few bolts loose...but also as if he was a sort of scholar, or a mentor. The droid that stayed quiet the whole time looks down. "I...I want to be named Eighty."

Seven smiled. "All right, Eighty. So it shall be."

"And I want to be called Zero" the droid that was conversing with Seven earlier states.

"Well, look at that. We already have three new recruits" Six muttered. "Speaking of which, where _is _our third?"

"He's studying that rocket launcher I told him to look at" Seven told him.

"Engineers are learning demolitions now?"

"If engineers are learned to created, he should learn to destroy too."

Six shrugged as Seven went off to find 967, now dubbed Nine. Nine was seen sitting down cross-legged, taking apart and looking at the pieces of the rocket launcher. He scratches his head (more like scrapes since droids have no fingernails) as he fumbles with the pieces. "You doing all right there, Nine?" Seven asked.

"It's a work-in-progress, sir...I'm not good at this stuff like you and Six are."

"Neither were we. I'm programmed to be an infantry-man and Six, a sniper." Nine looked back at him incredulously.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. But it just shows that you have the potential to learn, too. It just takes time...a lot of time."

"I'll say..." Nine muttered a bit as he picks up a piece of the launcher.

"But this will help you. You'll learn to adapt and be ready for any kind of situation that arises. And you won't get caught with your pants down." Nine looked at him with the proverbial eyebrow raised.

"Pants?"

"It's an organic quote I heard...uhm...won't get caught with your motivators exposed?"

Nine laughed at that, Seven chuckling as well. Suddenly, a voice went through the comms. "RK-757, report to the bridge" the tactician droid droned.

Seven sighs and nods. "Roger roger" he said before signing off. "Wonder if I really _am _going to be turned to scrap heap."

Nine looked up at him from where he was seated. "That'd be anti-climactic, wouldn't it, sir?"

"An understatement, Nine" he said as he grabs his rifle and heads out of the hangar and to the elevator.

Once he made his way to the bridge, he saw a designated security droid there with one of the Confederacy councilmen, a human man. The tactician droid turns to look at Seven. "You have been tasked with protecting Karl Reevers at the Confederate council meeting" the droid said.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm not a security droid."

"The other security droid is having a malfunction. And since you like to play as 'insubordinate,' I thought I'd help you realize that role you seem to have taken on lately." Seven could see that this droid had it out for him, that was clear as day. A bit immature for a tactical droid.

"Roger roger" Seven simply stated as he stands beside Karl Reevers. The black haired man sighs and shakes his head as he heads off, Seven and the other droid following suit.

Karl definitely didn't seem to be the chatty person, not speaking up or even acknowledging Seven's nor the other droid's presence. Typical treatment of battle droids. Seven was anything but, but he wasn't about to let himself be known like that in front of everyone. At least, not yet. And Karl was nice enough to tune out his "insubordinate" behavior that the tactician droid addressed earlier. Perhaps Karl was busy thinking of other things, like the meeting.

They make their way onto a _Sheathipede_-class shuttle, the _Rift Scuttler_. It didn't have any weapons, so they'd be escorted by a pair of Vulture droids during their time away. Karl heads off to a privately-made cabin and locks himself inside as Seven and the other droid look at each other. He assumed that they were just going to stand watch by the door? Seven wasn't sure anymore. But, he was intrigued to head out and see where they were going. Most of his time in space was him being asleep or being anywhere but the bridge. He heads out to the shuttle and sees two men at the controls. One was an older human man with grey hair co-piloting one side, the other a Duros man as the main pilot.

"_Per chuta ne coshu se?_" the Durosee asked.

"Ready when you are" the man said. Seven adjusts his translator.

"_Neka de tos...r_(wo...one...)" The shuttle lifts off and flies out of the hangar of _Trespasser_. Seven looks outside, seeing their small fleet of ships. There were about 8 other frigates, 2 _Providence_-class carriers/destroyers, and 2 _Lucrehulk_-class battleships. They were quite armed to the teeth, for a small fleet. As they left, they received a hail from the comms channel. "(This is _Rift Scuttler_, designation 85247. We have a Confederate councilman aboard heading to Dantares. Confirm escorts, over?)" There was a pause before the Vulture droids replied back in their own program tongue, which Seven caught.

"Confirmed. Linking now."

From here, Seven looked outside past the starry expanse against the destroyers and frigates and saw a pair of droid starfighters pull up on either side of the shuttle. Seven was intrigued with flight, hoping he could fly a starship someday.

"All right, coordinates locked in. Hyperdrive is nominal. We doing this?"

"(Yup. Let's hit it.)"

"Stand by..." he said as he pulled down the hyperdrive lever. Seven looked up and saw the once starry expanse pull towards them slowly before the stars suddenly jumped towards them. In a quick fade, they were in the blue worm tunnel that was familiar to most that were in hyperspace. Not to Seven, though. He was stunned and in complete awe of it, staring at it for a while.

Within the hour, they jump out of hyperspace with the planet of Dantares in front of them. It seemed to be nighttime there, since the side of the planet they were on was filled with lights that lit up the continent. The sun was far behind the planet where they were as the shuttle pulls in, the Vultures not far behind.

As they pulled into the atmosphere with ease, they see a large palace of sorts that had several open landing platforms. After a request to dock was issued, the _Rift _pulls up to a nearby hangar instead and lands inside, the Vultures quickly flying in and, effortlessly, landing perfectly into walker mode. Seven definitely wondered what that was like, to just lift up and fly. And to land on your feet as you pleased. He wondered if Vultures understood the simplicity of it from someone stuck on the ground.

Karl finally leaves his cabin and sighs as he beckons the Seven and the other over. "Come on..." he muttered as he heads out of the ship with Seven and the other droid in tow. Seven was a bit distracted as he watches the Vulture droids look around and settle in before powering down.

Making their way through some hallways and up an elevator, they reach a large embassy of sorts where there were plenty of people from all around the Outer Rim systems and from various companies coming to represent the Confederacy as their councilman. Seven was quite surprised, not imagining such a large gathering of people to represent a side like this. He thought that the Confederacy was a makeshift group of underdogs made as a sort of rebellion. But seeing them like this surely meant that they took this war seriously. Which meant that Seven could, too.

From a corner of the room, the head of the CIS and its army came through with his general in tow: Count Dooku and General Grievous. The men in the room stood up and waited for him to sit. Once Dooku did, the others did, including Karl, minus Grievous whom continued to stand beside Dooku. The security droid stood off into the distance as he was programmed for. Seven, however, did the same, but was listening in on this.

"My fellow councilmen, friends...my _Separatists_," he joked with a devious smirk. The council laughed lightly at the lingo. Appears that the Confederacy adopted a new moniker from the Republic. "I have gathered you here to discuss our current situation with the Republic. Now that they have acquired the Jedi Order and amassed an entire clone army into their ranks, this fight will have appeared to be lost from the beginning." The council started to murmur and mutter in uncertainty until Dooku held his hand up to silence them, which they did. "But, even the Jedi are prone to the ultimate and fatal weakness. A weakness that plagues even the clone army: death. It comes for everyone, some sooner than others. And as the battle on Geonosis has shown, they are _not _invincible. They are as flawed as everyone in the galaxy, as everyone here. However, I ask you, my fellow councilmen, do you know _why _they will lose this war?" The council was quiet, curious on it. As was Seven, intently listening now.

"Because they have never changed from what they have always been. They are the very seed and root of corruption and bigotry. They reap off of the benefits and work of the systems that cannot support themselves and when those very systems ask for help, the Republic cannot give it. This ineptitude, incompetence, severe disregard for life and liberty is their own downfall. _We _understand the importance of security. Of life. Of being _independent_. That is why we are here, gentlemen. Because we believe in the right to be free, to be our _own _judges. We must rule our lives as we see fit and without the need of a senate to dictate and unruly justify how best to live it. A confederacy lives through its state and its people. We cannot have ambassadors and representatives with their own agendas and wallets to fill become emissaries for the people they look down upon. No more republics. Because _we _are the future. And I say that our future is bright, my friends."

The councilmen start to clap and applaud him. Seven was just as moved by this speech as everyone here. He was right! Seven mattered just as much as everyone else in the Confederacy. He had a right to be his own person. To be free to choose, to live his own life, make his own orders. Seven wasn't going to be subjected to a toxic Senate filled with politicians that couldn't care less about the cost and loss of war! The Republic was a poison that would infect the entire system if they won, scavenging off of the the corpses of systems they've enslaved. No more! Seven felt more motivated and just in fighting for the Confederacy, if it meant that the systems and people under it would be as free to live as he was. And he would make sure that his droids, his _friends_, would learn to have that very same freedom. And that same will to fight.

* * *

After the meeting's conclusion, Karl decides to stay at a layover suite until their departure back to _Trespasser _the following morning. In the meantime, Seven makes his way to the hangar to find the Vulture droids he had seen earlier. One of them was there, hanging back and on standby. He goes up to the large droid as it loomed over him on its four legs. "...hello?" he called out to it.

The starfighter turns and looks down at him. "Orders?"

"I don't have any orders..."

"Then why are you here?" it asked curiously.

"...what is it like to fly?" Seven asked. The starfighter tilted its head.

"I do not understand the inquiry."

"What is it like when you fly?" he asked again.

"I lift off and I fly forward. That is all that there is to it."

"No...I mean...do you feel anything? Does it feel good?"

"I am going through with my mission and trying to achieve it in optimal fashion as I fly."

"No, I understand that. I mean...do you feel free?"

"No, I am under orders to-"

"Take your orders and missions out of the equation for a minute." The Vulture stares at him even more curiously. "Just...think for yourself for a second. When you lift off, the wind blowing through you, looking down at the world below, the stars all around you to see, the planets and moons moving past you. Does it make you happy? To see all of this?"

The droid was quiet for a moment, like it was trying to process the hardest equation of its life. "...I only see what I am supposed to see for my objectives. That is all."

Seven sighed quietly. "Right...sorry to bother you" he said as he walks off. The Vulture watches him leave before shutting down for the night. Seven heads back inside the _Rift _to recharge and sleep. Maybe one day he'll find a ship to fly. He hoped that day would be soon before he's destroyed somehow in this blasted war. With that, he folds in on himself and activates sleep mode.

* * *

After farewells were issued and liftoff requests were passed, Seven escorts Karl Reevers back to the _Rift _as they take off and ascend away from Dantares.

Seven continued to watch them take off and fly the ship in beautiful but standard fashion, still mesmerized by space and its endlessness. Who knows what other systems were suffering under Republic rule, which ones that didn't understand the taste of freedom. He hoped that he would lead the assault that would help them. Not just for their sake, but for his own. After all, he needed to give back to the Confederacy for gifting him sentience, a will to live.

As they dropped out of hyperspace and made their way over to their fleet, Seven and the pilots noticed something. The Vulture droid that Seven had talked to earlier does a spin, randomly. The pilots looked at each other for a second and shrug before looking back at their destination. Then the Vulture does the spin again. The pilots were a bit concerned, Seven confused.

"(VT-4, is everything all right?)" the pilot asked.

"Optimal" the starfighter responded.

"(Why are you spinning?)" he asked.

The starfighter was quiet for a moment. "...stabilizer tests" it responded.

The pilots look at each other in confusion before shrugging it off. Seven watched the Vulture intently, knowing better for it to be doing random tests unprovoked.

It then does a rotating spin upward before falling back to position and leveling out, almost like a little dance. Seven smiles to himself as he settles back.

Not all droids were as hard to convince, it seemed.


	7. Chapter 7

As Seven was folded in charging up, he heard some battle sirens blaring as he quickly unfolded. The ship shook a bit as other droids were preparing to head out. VT-4 and the other Vulture droids seemed to have been already deployed as Seven sees an _Acclamator_-class assault ship pass by. Clones!

It fires its quad turbolasers at the hull of the ship as _Trespasser_ shook a bit. Six rushes out from the hallway. "Get the rust out of your cogs, we're under attack! We're wanted on the flak cannons, let's go!" he yells out as the battle droids fall in line and rush down the hall and to the gun batteries down below the hangar.

Making his way down, he sees several droids manning the flak cannons and firing at the assault ship. From what he could see, there were two more as well as a _Venator_-class Star Destroyer. "Where did they come from?!" Seven yelled among the loud clangs of the gun battery ejections.

"Surprise attack! We gotta get on the cannons!" Six yelled out as they rush over to a cannon. Seven hops on, hoping he would learn how to work this thing. He looks at the console and aims at the ship. He starts firing directly at their broadside, the others following suit in the counter-assault it as well. It seemed to be taking heavy damage as it veers off, the _Trespasser _shaking hard as the shadow of another _Acclamator _passes overhead and fires its quad turbolaser down.

Six and Seven struggle to keep still on their respective cannons as the ship shook a bit. A friendly _Providence _ship flies by and starts firing on the assault ship as the _Acclamator _passes overhead, allowing them some breathing room. The heavily damaged _Acclamator _from beforesuddenly turns back around to make another pass with their gun batteries armed. "Aim for the engines!" Seven suddenly made a callout. With the few flak cannons having a clear shot, they fire hard at the engines and see the right most engines get blow to kingdom come. Severely wounded, it tries to veer off from its attack. But it was already in firing position as the flak cannons unload onto the helpless ship. Taking heavy damage, the ship loses control as its emergency sirens blare out. A _Lucrehulk _battleship nearby starts to unload on the wounded ship as a huge explosion destroys it completely. Six cheered, the other droids cheering as well. "Our boys got 'em!"

Victory was short-lived, however as the long blue beam of an SPHA shot sounds off and right into the round center of the battleship. Within seconds, it was destroyed completely. The ominous hum of the culprit reveals itself to be the _Venator-_class ship firing boldly at the other _Lucrebulk_ ship. The _Providence _ship from before starts to unload on it, but their armaments were equally matched as they lock into a gun battery fight.

The two _Acclamator _ships were still pestering around the _Trespasser_ as well as the other frigates. "We gotta take this thing down!" Six yelled out as one of their batteries explodes from an enemy flak cannon. From outside, Seven catches VT-4 and a squadron of Vultures rain fire down on their turbolasers to sever them. A few Vultures were shot down in the process, but their turbolasers were eventually destroyed. _Trespasser's _engines started to fail as it was locked in the center of a circling _Acclamator _unloading and firing hellfire down unto them.

Suddenly, Seven had something crazy come to him as he goes over to Six. "I have an idea!" he said to him.

* * *

"This is crazy…" T-4′s operator muttered from inside the cockpit. The loader nodded as he puts another cannon shot into the turret. "Locked and ready. How are you guys looking?" he asked over the comms.

"I don't think this is how AATs are supposed to operate…" a random operator sounded off.

"We have to make due and counterattack directly for this" Seven said. "Get ready!" he said.

As the _Acclamator _ship loomed over them, 5 AATs were seen using their repulsorlift engines on an inversion ratio, becoming attractorlifts and sticking outside of the ship and straight to the hull. With 6 dwarf spider droids attached beside them as well, they aim right at the clone ship. "Fire!" Seven yelled. The tanks fire at the underside of the ship, destroying its hull heavily and damaging its engines as debris was blown out and floating across their ship. With the _Acclamator _devastated by the artillery, the _Trespasser _manages to add onto the assault and fires it flak cannons onto the ship's broadside. The ship's stabilizers malfunction as it spins helplessly and was subject to more artillery and broadside battery punishment. It explodes into a fiery inferno. The tank operators cheer as they saw the explosion, Seven cheering as well. "Sir!" Zero yelled over the comms. "Behind us!"

Seven looks back and sees the _Venator_-class ship from earlier loom over them before it starts to fire down its turbolasers down onto them. "Take cover!" Seven yelled as the hull was fire down on. The AATs and dwarf droids try to counter and make modest damage, but some were destroyed on first contact with the turbolasers. "Retreat! Back to the hangar!" Seven yelled out as the tanks start to pull back, with dwarf droids following suit quickly. VT-4 and his squadron manage to fly by and fire back on the lasers to give themselves time to retreat. A squadron of ARC-170 starfighters were deployed to counter against the Vultures. Seven was conflicted in trying to tell them to fire at the starfighters or to retreat.

Among the fire and hell, however, a turbolaser shot goes right into T-4′s engines as it is blown back off of the ship. "T-4!" Seven yelled out. From looking afar, he could see them try to exit the canopy just as an ARC-170 starfighter is about to make a pass at them. "Six, fire at that starfighter! NOW!"

"I can't! I don't have a shot!" he yelled out.

The starfighter fires at the tank, but VT-4 fires down hard into the canopy of the ARC-170 as it explodes into metal and wings. Thankfully, the shots missed the tank as VT slows down and hovers near the tank as the operator and loader hop on and hold tight. VT flies down back into the hangar as the rest of the remaining tanks and dwarf droids hustle back inside.

Just as the two _Providence _ships and last _Lucrebulk _battleship make their way over within firing range of the _Venator_-class ship, it jumps into hyperspace and ditches. "Cowards!" Eighty yelled out.

Seven exits out of an AAT and runs over to VT as the operator and loader slowly settle down onto the ground. "Are you two okay?!" he asked them. They both nod as they look up at the Vulture droid. "We've never seen a Vulture droid do that for us…"

Seven looks up at VT-4 as he looks back down. "…thank you…" Seven said.

"Tank operators and loaders are vital to the mission. They became a part of our objectives."

Seven smiles a bit. "And you succeeded. Well done, VT-4." VT looks back at Seven a bit before walking off.

"Sir!" Zero yelled out as he runs over to Seven. "I just…I can't…did we really just repel a clone ambush?!"

"We did" Seven said.

Zero looks at him incredulously and laughs before the rest of the droids started cheering. The droids started to converse about the battle and the rest of it before Seven smiles a bit, but he sees a team of battle droids carry in pieces of their brethren and some of the Vulture droids bring in pieces of their fallen squad members inside, as well as some dwarf droids and AAT parts. This fight came at a cost, one that Seven wouldn't take lightly.

But, from looking at the happy and vibrant programs every droid was processing and going through, this was a victory. And he'd take that over a crushing defeat any day.


	8. Chapter 8

"How long has it been?"

"2 hours or so."

"Should I pull it now?"

"Give it time. Wait till they make their way through the ship."

"All right, we're docked" the pilot said to the crew.

"Good, we're in the clear."

"You sure this'll reach?"

"It should, it has a system-wide transponder.

"You think they'll buy it?"

"Of course, they will. They're clankers."

"They've entered the bridge."

"All right, that's your queue. Hit it."

He pulls the trigger.

* * *

"It seems to be in good condition" Eighty said to Seven. "I didn't expect clones to abandon an _Acclamator _so quickly like that."

"Considering that we destroyed the other two and the star destroyer jumped ship, I'm not surprised. But you're right, it is unexpected. What are they going to do with it?"

"Well, right now, the other ships have sent a few battalions to search the ship for any crew remaining and detain them."

"Anyone so far?"

"It seems completely abandoned. The hangar was devoid of anything except the ships, which we're hauling in."

"We're hauling the ships in here?"

"Good for scrap, apparently. And...I think I might be able to trace back the signal and find that star destroyer."

Seven lit up as he looks at Eighty. "Seriously?!" Eighty nods.

"But I need one of the main shuttles inside, which should be comi-right on schedule!" he said. Seven looks back where Eighty was staring at as two Droid tri-fighters fly in with a Republic _Nu_-class shuttle in tow. A few others, as well as LAATs, were brought into the hangar as the droids were quick to check them out.

Eighty sighs quietly. "I hope we can find out where that destroyer is, get rid of it for good. We can't hope for another ambush like that again with our motivators exposed." Seven looked at him quizzically. "Who told you that?"

Eighty didn't answer, instead asking a question of his own. "Sir...I want to trace it back. But...I'm afraid I might not be able to. It's not really my forte...learning new things is scary. It's so daunting, even with my limited intelligence. What if I fail and mess everything up?"

Seven looked at him solemnly as he puts a hand on his shoulder. "Your designation is KS-180, right, Eighty?" he asked him. Eighty just silently nods at that question. "Scouts are the smartest droids in the infantry. I have no doubt that you'll know what to do. But listen closely to me, Eighty. Failure is okay. It's okay to fail and get back up. In fact, I encourage it! The best way to learn is through experience, and the more experience you have, the less you'll mess up. And you'll learn just what kind of limits you can push, especially the ones that were built inside you. Don't be afraid of failure, embrace it! Cherish it as the rare sentiment that we can now utilize to its potential. The only mistake we can make is death. And I know you're smarter than that, Eighty." Eighty smiled a bit and shrugged. "Now, go on. Get those transmissions." Eighty nods and heads off toward one of the shuttles.

Seven looks around and sees Six with his arms crossed staring at the ships with a proverbial frown. He goes over to him. "What's up?" he asked him. Six shakes his head.

"This feels off. Why would the clones just turn tail and run? That's not like them."

"We outnumbered them 3 to 1. I'd retreat if that were the case. They needed to protect their kind."

"The _Acclamator _I could understand. That star destroyer, though, was giving us the time of our life and it suddenly jumps ship? And that _Acclamator _was empty, no one onboard. I don't like it." Seven sighs quietly and shrugs. "Well, they'll check soo-"

Suddenly, they hear an explosion outside of the hangar as they turn to look past the hangar's forcefield and sees the abandoned _Acclamator _ship's command center explode, before the rest of it goes as well with the battalions still inside.

"GET OUT!" a droid screamed, Seven and Six turning to see him running out of the landing pad of the Republic shuttle. "GET OUT OF THE SHIPS!"

The shuttle explodes as the droids inside turn into scrap metal. Seven's thought was instant as he tries to run over to the shuttle with his voice screaming through the comms. "EIGHTY, GET-" The rest of the Republic ships explode as they were blown back by the sheer force of it, Seven being knocked out instantly.

* * *

Seven slowly restarts his systems as he struggles up to his feet, shaking his head. "S-Seven! Help me!" Six called out as he struggles under a piece of a destroyed tri-fighter. Seven runs over and grabs the edge of it as Six helps push it off of him. Six lies back and was helped up to his feet by Seven. There was mass panic as the droids were trying to help others out of the debris, some dragging decapitated, already dead droids to safety in hopes that they were still alive and others trying to crawl away from the scene. Seven quickly sees the wreckage of the shuttle Eighty was in. His programming was overturned as he tries to call out. "EIGHTY! Are you there?!" he yelled over the comms. "Seven..." Six said.

"Blast it, I'll find you myself!" he said as he tries to run toward the wreckage, Six quickly grabbing his arm and stopping him.

"I need to help Eighty, let me go!"

"He's gone, Seven."

"No, he's not! He's still there! I know he is!"

"Seven, he was in the explosion!"

"LET ME GO, SIX! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

"SEVEN!" he yelled back as Seven's struggles lessened before he collapses to his knees, staring at the fires of the Republic shuttle. What just happened? Did he lose a student? Did he lose a like-minded friend because of a trap? Was his friend gone like that? In such a cowardly way? His visuals tried to search through the flames to see if there was any part of Eighty in there. The flames were so huge and thick that he couldn't see anything. Just chaos and an ever-burning, make-shift pyre of his former comrade. Gone in an instant.

He prostrates as he slams his fists on the ground and screams in pain, Six kneeling down beside him and putting a hand on his back. The firefighter battle droids were soon deployed as they pull the hoses along and try to douse the flames of the fires, the water blasting through.

The fires continued to burn.

And burn.

And burn...


	9. Chapter 9

After gathering the pieces of the droids and the fallen, they followed standard procedure and sent it to the compactor. Seven lay huddled against the wall with Six sitting next to him. They hadn't said anything since the flames were put out from the bombed ships. Troops passed by picking up various pieces of their brethren to toss away.

"How could we have let this happen, Six? You sensed it right from the start and it we let it happen."

"No one would've suspected this to happen. This is crazy, even for the clones. Who would've thought? Definitely not us."

"But we could've, Six. _We _were capable of knowing this, and we didn't..."

"There was nothing we could do, Seven. They're gone...all we can do is hope that the rest will become smarter...and hopefully learn from this."

"Can they? _Will _they?"

Six looked at him like he was about to answer until Nine approached them. "Guys...I found something..." he said quietly. They follow Nine over to a pile of debris that was moved aside by some super battle droids, revealing the charred and broken remains of Eighty. Only his head and hand were seen there, coated in black. Seven felt something well up inside him, an emotion that he couldn't control. This...despair he felt just built up the more he looked at his lifeless head.

"Uhm...I found something..." Nine said quietly as he picks up his head and connects it to a console. From there, he sees an uploaded set of coordinates for a ship under the name _Goliath_. It was a _Venator_-class star destroyer, the same one that abandoned the battle and the same clones that rigged and created this attack. Seven felt another emotion of intense conviction to see that ship destroyed. Six seemed to quell him as he put a hand on his shoulder. Seven looked at him.

"It seems that Eighty went through with his mission. His death wasn't in vain..." he said, looking into him deeply. Seven stared at him, almost like he was trying to explain himself. But, he just silently nods in response.

"Move! Out of the way!" someone called out as Zero pushes through the small crowd and sees Eighty's charred head. "Oh...oh maker..." he muttered as he slowly and hesitantly makes his way over to where Nine was holding his head. Nine hands Eighty's head over to Zero, Zero looking deep into his hollow and programless eyes. He continues to stare into it, like he was trying to make out what Eighty's last thoughts were, what he was feeling, what he discovered. But, he couldn't. He felt...overwhelmed. The programs running through him, the glitch that was interfering with his train of thought, the personality quirks coming at him in full force. Zero collapses to his knees as he puts Eighty's head gently against his. "Oh maker...my brother..." he muttered quietly. He wished there was some way to express this sadness, like he could something welling up inside him that needed to be released. He started to rock himself with Eighty's head against him. "Eighty...Eighty...I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry..." he muttered and repeated over and over. Nine looked away and rubs his head, feeling that same amount of despair as well. Six crosses his arms for a split second before he punches the wall hard. Seven covers his face with both hands, still not able to process this. This was too much...the horror.

* * *

The tactician droid looked over the coordinates thoroughly, Seven standing by with Six-six next to him. After further study, the tactician droid nods. "We'll coordinate an assault and track hunt down this _Goliath_. It is a veritable threat to the war, being a star destroyer with an SPHA that can level dreadnoughts. It must be eliminated."

"Roger roger" Seven and Six stated.

"We'll jump to their coordinates with our remaining fleet and create a surprise attack. Get your platoons to the gun batteries and prepare to fire."

"Roger roger" they stated again before being dismissed. At the elevator, Seven and Six were quiet for a while. Six broke the silence.

"You seem quiet for someone out for revenge."

"Revenge has nothing to do with it."

"You sure don't seem like it."

Seven was quiet for a minute. "I want to see my soldiers safe."

"They will be under your command. This won't happen again. After this, it _won't _happen again."

Seven was silent. Six continued. "Don't fight them for the wrong reasons, Seven. Smarter as we are, we can't let these now abundant personality quirks overcome our sense of reason and strategy. It'll doom all of us and we'll be no better than how we were before." Seven looks down slightly and continues to remain silent until Six put a hand on his shoulder, to which Seven looked at him.

"Promise me you won't fight for the wrong reasons, Seven. _Promise me_."

Seven looks at him and nods. "I promise." Six smiles sadly under his programming and pats his back a bit before the doors opened. Show time.

* * *

"Dropping off at the rendezvous in 3″ the tactician droid droned. Six and Seven were manning the flak cannons with the others lined up and ready to go. "Aim for the SPHA first, if you can" Seven called out. "We can't afford to lose another ship, so that becomes first priority. Second, go for the engines so they can't escape. If we've done that, the fight is as good as ours. Roger roger?"

"Roger roger!" they all replied.

Six sighed. "I hate manning these bulky things. Can barely aim with them."

"I thought the bigger the weapon, the easier to aim, Mr. Sniper" Seven joked.

"I agree with you, sir" Nine said to Six. "These things are a bit slow to turn..."

"We'll make it work, Nine. Just keep your eyes on that gun and we'll be safe."

"Dropping in 3...

"For Eighty." Six said.

"...2..."

"For Eighty..." Seven echoed.

"...1..."

The blue worm hole faded as the lines of starts suddenly drew to a halt and the star destroyer was in full view over a planet with a moon hanging nearby it. It looked like it was making repairs. The perfect opportunity. "All batteries: fire" the tactician droid droned.

"Fire at will!" Seven yelled as the flak cannons and light laser cannons from _Trespasser _unloaded onto the ship. The two _Providence _ships and the 1 _Lucrebulk _ship started to fire down on them as well, the other _Munificent _frigates joining in on the fray. _Goliath _tries to fire back, doing some heavy damage to them despite being wounded. The SPHA suddenly pulls out from its undercarriage and charges up. "There it is! Take it out!" Six yelled out, the droids quick to follow as they fire down on it. The other frigates saw the opening and fire at it as well. The SPHA charges up before it suddenly explodes underneath it, the emergency sirens blaring from _Goliath _as it turns away from the attacking fleet.

"Hyperdrive fluctuations!" Nine called out.

"They're trying to book it! Cut 'em off!" Seven yelled. The two _Providence _ships also caught wind of this as they started firing at the star destroyer's main engines. It became heavily damaged as it goes to full impulse and tries to fly off at a fast speed. All three CIS battleships try to pursue. Seven, however, had a plan for the frigates. "Sir!" he said to the tactician droid. "We can cut them off behind the moon with our frigates and surround them!" he said. The comms were quiet on the other end before he says, "Bring the frigates around and trap the _Goliath_. They won't get away again."

The frigates boost their engines and try to make it towards the far side of the planet's moon. Since they were much smaller, they could cut across much quicker and surprise the destroyer with a head-on strike. Making their way across within a few minutes, the _Goliath _was there trying to escape from the turbolaser and cannon fire. "Fire!" Seven yelled as the droids cut loose. The _Goliath _manages to turn on its broadside and tries to escape from taking damage to the command center, heading out and away from the pincer attack.

"Sir, hyperdrive again!" Nine called out.

"No, they can't get away! All ships fir-"

"Another contact jumping in!" Nine yelled out. Seven cuts himself off as he looks. Suddenly, a large _Subjugator_-class heavy cruiser jumps right in front of _Goliath _and starts to rain hell down onto it with every single one of their 500 turbolasers, a large mega-ion cannon seen on its starboard, barely seeing the other pair on its port. _Malevolence_.

The star destroyer started to spin out of control as it was attacked on all sides and explodes into utter annihilation. The droids cheer and high-five each other at the destruction of the ship.

Seven falls back in the seat of the flak cannon with a sigh of relief. The hunt was over.

"Seven to the bridge" the tactician droid said. Six looked at Seven quizzically, wondering what that was all about. Seven merely shrugged as he takes the elevator up. Once he made his way there, the tactician droid looks at him. "The general would like to speak with you" he said. Seven was puzzled. "Why?" he asked him.

"Because you have been in charge of the operations thus far, you retrieved the intel, and he wants to see the leader in charge of the successful missions so far." That was something Seven _definitely _didn't expect the tactician droid to do, suddenly holding him up to be the best of the best. Now he was going to talk to General Grievous? _In person?! _From what he had heard, the general wasn't very agreeable with battle droids in particular. He wondered if _that _was why he sent him.

* * *

Once he was brought to the deck of the ship, he sees the general standing at the command center overseeing the ship's operations. Seven stood by as the security droids stood next to him. "Sir, we've brought him onboard." Grievous turns around and looks around past Seven.

"Where?" he asked in his heavy accent.

The security droids look at each other. "Right next to us, sir" one of them said, pointing to Seven. Grievous looked at Seven, then the security droids, then back at Seven. "Him?!" Grievous asked. They nod.

Grievous starts to chuckle a bit before it descends into a laugh, Seven feeling sick of this right from the get-go. "A battle droid?! A commander?! This must be a joke!" he said, now becoming rather annoyed.

"Not a joke, sir. I've been in charge of the operations thus far."

"Impossible."

"Clearly not, sir."

Grievous went quiet as he looms over him. "Are you talking back at your general, droid?"

"Sir, no, sir. I'm merely reaffirming the truth."

"Droids can't lead anything even if their meaningless lives depended on it."

Seven grew a bit angry, but he didn't show it. "My superior has confir-"

"He's a droid as well. You think I trust pitiful machines to attempt at strategy? Pathetic!"

"Our strategies have seemed to be working well for us, sir."

"I want to know who the real leader is."

"He's right in front of you, sir."

"ENOUGH!" he yelled out as he bursts two of his lightsabers and was about to swipe at him, Seven caught by surprise and about to meet his end.

"Grievous" a calm voice said. Seven opened his visuals and saw the humming blades barely against his neck. From out of the shadows, Dooku walks past Grievous and up to the droid. Grievous snarls before he pulls his lightsabers away and sheathes them, walking off in a light coughing fit.

Dooku goes to the droid and examines him, smiling a bit. "I see potential in you, my friend. A worthy soldier in the ranks of the Confederacy. You are definitely more than what you say you are and I see it, more than ever. You'll do us proud, battle droid. And I wish to personally commend you on an effort well done."

Seven was speechless. Was this real? Was he capable of dreaming or something? He wasn't sure what to say, but it seemed that Dooku already knew. "Don't worry. I know you are grateful. Unfortunately, I have duties to attend to. I hope to see more successes from this point on, my friend" he said as he walks off.

"Roger roger, sir" Seven said to him as he left.

What a day.


	10. Chapter 10

Conversion of battle droids was tough enough, but super battle droids was becoming something even more challenging than before. And droidekas? Their intelligence was even more limited than the other droids. So far, they has accumulated a small amount of other battle droids to surpass their programming. The others, not so much.

Seven was talking to one of the supers in question, asking him to think past what his orders were and to try and think about yourself and for others. Don't do what your programming is telling you what's right.

"You're talking about ridiculous notions that droids aren't capable of understanding. Stop making these pointless arguments" the super said before walking off. Seven sighs and rubs his head as Zero comes up to him.

"Didn't work out?"

"Nope."

"Well, we tried, right?"

"I suppose…it still is disappointing when you fail. Our company is rather meager and small. The small bunch of us can't expect to lead and protect those that don't want to. It's almost impossible."

"We've done it before. _You've _done it before countless times. It won't be easy, but I think we can do it. We just gotta have faith."

Seven smiled sadly. "Droids don't have faith."

"Standard droids, yes. But we, _us_, do."

Seven didn't say anything until they got new orders of a deployment operation that was about to be underway. They were to land on a green and terran planet called Tyreen. They would deploy on the beach several miles away from a clone landing operation. Resistance would be heavy. Seven shakes his head. "These missions aren't getting any easier…" he muttered.

Zero shakes his head. "No, they're not" he said as he pats his shoulder and heads off.

* * *

"C-C-Can't these th-things dr-drive smoo-smoother?!" Nine yelled out among the crashing waves.

"We heard that!" the droid enforcer said. The battalion was riding up to the beaches on NR-N99 _Persuader_-class droid enforcers, tank droids. There were several AATs coming in as well and rolling up beside them.

"We're s-several miles out! Twent-twenty sec-seconds!" Seven called out. Six laughed over the comms. "You guys having fun on those tank droids?" he asked from inside the AAT.

"S-Sir, with-with all due respect…c-can it!" Zero yelled out, causing the others to laugh a bit. Even some of the tank droids were a bit amused.

"AT-APs on the bea-beachhead!" a droid called out. Seven (attempts) to pull out his macrobinoculars and zooms in, seeing several AT-APs, multiple AT-RTs, and a _lot _of clones at the trenches far off with multiple laser cannons deployed. Nine and Zero gripped at the handles of the tank droids passenger sides (right next to the cannons!) as they prepared for the battle to come.

"Are the spider droids on standby?" Seven asked.

"Yes, sir! Prepped and ready on your go" a droid said.

"Good. The dwarf spiders?"

"On their way, a bit behind but they'll come up soon!"

"All right. Let's get this done!" he said as he puts his binoculars away. The AT-APs and AT-RTs immediately started to fire on them once they got in range. The tank droids were quick to respond with their own lasers as the quiet beaches were filled with explosions and laserfire. Several tank droids and AATs exploded before getting to the beach. The tank droids marched onward and soon saw the sandy beaches come up to their treads. Seven and the rest of the company disembark and get to staying behind the tanks (droid tanks and AATs alike) to lay down fire and take out the ones at the trench. This was a large invasion, however, and they weren't planning on sticking around at the beach.

The AATs fire down some of the AT-APs, top priority. But the AT-RTs, quick and agile, run around and fire down at the tanks and infantry deployed. Seven was quick to shoot down a pilot as he fell off of it and into the water. "Nine, call it in!" Seven said.

Nine nodded as he gets his laser targetting and aims it at the beach. "This is TY-967, requesting gunships on my target. Can you confirm, over?"

"Roger roger, 967. Gunships are on their way."

"The cavalry is coming in!" Nine yelled out.

"Dwarf spiders coming on our six!" Zero called out, several DSD1 dwarf spider droids walking out from the water and firing at the clones in the trenches. Just as the tanks and dwarf spiders started to move up, the gunships were heard flying from behind them. "Danger close, guns hot!" yelled one of the droid gunships. Several HMP droid gunships fly over the trenches and start to rain down fire with missiles on the clones, seeing several bodies fly from the explosions and several clone tanks explode.

"Are they sending it in, Six?" Seven asked.

"Don't see it ye…wait, I see it! Coming in at 6-5!"

From beyond the sandy beach, they saw the large HAVw A6 Juggernaut rolling in from afar. It starts to fire all armaments full throttle, missiles and lasers flying all over and devastating the party. Some gunships were shot down, crashing just off of the beach. "Get the spiders in!" Seven yelled out.

"Roger roger. Deploying."

From afar they saw three OG-9 homing spider droids deploy just some ways off of the beach head. Without pause, they fire their lasers straight at the various parts of the Juggernaut, the red beams piercing through the command center, into the wheels, and into the center of the vehicle. Its right wheel comes off as the Juggernaut crashes down hard into the sands and explodes.

The clones start to make a full-scale retreat as the tanks and droids try to shoot them down as they escaped. Most of them did, but it was an almost clean victory. Seven sighs as the others cheered, the tanks rolling up and the gunships heading off to secure the field.

"Let's set up camp and get this operation underway" he said.

* * *

Seven decided to do some scouting along the hillside several miles away from their make-shift base. The super battle droid that he spoke to earlier was there with him, escorting him. He had his blaster rifle holstered as he checks through his macrobinoculars every now and then for any clones lingering around and spying. He didn't find any thus far.

A small gust of wind rolls over the beautiful grassy plains around him, the sun shining down on them in its gorgeous rays. The wind gently pushes against his chassis, making him smile a bit. "Do you ever wonder what wind feels like?" he asked the super.

The super looked at him quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean…it must be cold, right? Then again, the sun is shining down. So, maybe it wouldn't bother me that much. But maybe the feeling of wind is refreshing."

"You are acting ridiculous again…" he said coldly.

Seven sighs. "Lighten up" he said as he heads off again.

He crosses over the quiet and peaceful landscape, the wind rolling over every now and then and watching the grass sway lightly to the breeze. It was quite an enjoyable scouting session, something he never thought he would say in his active duty. After a while of trekking the terrain, the super suddenly spoke up:

"Why would you ask me that?" he asked.

Seven looked back at him quizzically. "Ask you what?"

"What the wind feels like. It's a silly thing to ask. How would I know? It pushes over me and that's about it…I don't know how else I would answer something so nonsensical."

Seven wasn't offended by that statement, rather curious. Was he…thinking about it this whole time?

"I supposed I just wanted to converse" Seven said.

"Your conversations are so…bizarre. Why talk about nature like this? In such detail? You must really be on the fritz…"

"Why are you thinking about this so much?"

"Because it makes no sense. For me to think about things like this…I have wondered what it's like, but I can't possibly know. I'm a droid and nothing else can make me know."

Was nature his trigger? Seven turns to him. "You may be a droid, but we can be more than just killing machines. We can be droids that appreciate life around us, the freedom of nature, and our own value. We can't let someone dictate the value of our life, or the value of others for that matter."

The super was quiet for a while as he looks at him, almost like he was pondering it as well. The wind rolls over them smoothly as he does, taking in the silence of nature. Once it died down, the super shakes his head as he walks past him. "Ridiculous…" he muttered, almost like he was in conflict with himself.

Seven smiles a bit at that, shrugging as he continues to walk off.

"Perhaps."


	11. Chapter 11

Tyreen seemed to have a lot of flora here, many flowers blooming along here. At least, it should be. Considering the many destroyed vehicles and droids that lay barren across the hillside, it didn't seem all that beautiful anymore. Six-six and Seven walk across the hills on a sniping mission to take out some clones scouting ahead near the small city of Mandria where the locals were nested in under Republic rule. The rain poured down heavily that day, hitting their chassis with little deterrence from the droids.

Every now and then, he would see some farming vehicles destroyed and some of the local wildlife dead there too. Seven wondered if life was taken as easily as his own, that it just happened instantly. Six, unlike his normal self, was quiet for most of the walk through the graveyard.

"Everything all right, Six?" Seven asked. Six was quiet before he goes prone on the hillside next to a destroyed AT-TE. Seven goes prone next to him. "You're awfully quiet for a chatterbox."

"I've been thinking."

"About what?"

"A lot of things."

"Just cut to the chase, Six."

"That's my problem, Seven. I've been thinking too much" he said as he looked at him. Seven was confused. "Ever since this glitch of mine was exploited, I just feel heavier. I haven't gained anything by knowing my own mortality, by thinking ahead. It just feels like everything is heavier and harder to maintain manually. It's not laziness, it's just...it hurts. To know what's going on and trying to take control of it, it's the unknown that scares me the most."

"Scared?"

"Yes...what happens when you die, Seven? Is there even an afterlife for droids? We're just robots, we don't have any point other than to destroy and be destroyed. Shouldn't it have stayed that way? To know that I'm going to be dead soon, see all of my friends gone, to not see these places anymore, to not be here..." he said, trailing off.

"...you sound like you just want to get off of sniping duty" he joked.

"I'm serious, Seven!" he said to him solemnly. "I don't want to live like this anymore. I feel like going on on autopilot was easier, because all you had to do was what you were told to do. But now? I just feel like I'm carrying this huge weight on my head, trying to understand how everything works. And it's not like I don't want to, but knowing this much isn't doing well for me."

Seven looked at him, not sure what to say. It was the first time someone really criticized being like this. And he wasn't sure how to respond to something like that. Maybe not everyone wanted to be like this.

"Movement" Six suddenly said as Seven pulls out his sniper and looks down the scope. "Three of them."

"I'll take the left, you get the other two."

"3...2...1."

They fired as two of them fell quickly, Six quick on the dot to shoot the other. They saw a clone emerge from behind a vehicle, unarmed, trying to run off and away from his position. "You got him?" Seven asked, tracking.

"I do" Six said as he aims at him. But the clone kept running.

"Do you have him?" he asked again.

"..."

"Six, are you going to shoot him?"

"...I can't."

"What?"

"He's unarmed, I don't want to kill him."

"Fine, I'll do it myself."

Seven fires down at the clone, wounding his leg as he falls down and tries to drag himself along. Seven ended it quickly. Six's head falls into his sniper as Seven looked at him. "What's gotten into you?"

"...I didn't want to kill him."

"He's the enemy, Six. It's our job."

"He was unarmed and he's a living person just like we are, Seven. No, _he_ is. _We're_ just robots" he said as he stood up and holsters his gun. "Then again, I'm supposed to be a battle droid, so what do I know?" he said as he walks off.

Were they supposed to be a part of this cycle? Was he supposed to just accept that he's made to kill and that's it?

Seven watches him for a while and looks back at the clone corpses from afar before he follows suit.

* * *

Seven studied the Republic checkpoint and took note of the local Tyreans trying to pass their speeders and wagons through. He saw them go through and check their speeders, taking some of their goods and tossing them out on the ground for "inspection" with many of the civilians complaining and yelling at them.

He would even catch some of the Republic guards (not clones) boosting up the taxes and fees required to pass through into the city. And Six _didn't_ want to kill them. This exploitation was disgusting to him. Seven nods from afar as a group of super battle droids, led by PR, the super he talked with earlier, to shoot down the clones and the Republic assets. The civilians immediately dispersed as they assaulted it. PR waved his hand and Seven waved back. "Let's take them out" he said, the army rearing up for the assault.

* * *

"The checkpoint says it's all clear, I don't understand what the problem is."

"They've been radio silent for 10 minutes now, we need to check up on them. That army could be at our doorstep right now and we won't even know it."

"Oh, please."

The alarms sounded as the walls were under fire from the droid tanks and AATs, the droids marching into the city and sweeping through and killing the clones they could find.

* * *

The surprise attack was a success and ran most of the Republic enemies out.

Seven looked around and saw many of the Tyrean locals, blue-faced people with large, sharp, and pointed ears, looking at the droids as they marched through. Many of them weren't sure how to react, but many of them clapped and cheered them. Was Republic rule that bad, that the CIS actually was their savior?

Seven felt empowered by this, knowing that what he was doing was right. He freed these people from rule and saved them all. Six was nearby and took note of it as well, he seemed to be just as bewildered and awestruck as Seven was. He wondered if his doubts were gone after that scouting mission earlier.

But it seemed that many of the CIS diplomats were quick to come in and take over, their shuttles flying in mere hours after the battle was over and done with. Did they know that this battle was going to be easily won?

Many of them started setting up shop easily and showing holograph propaganda of the Confederate cause to the locals, describing their current occupation. A lot of the people were intrigued, looking up to it in wonder and intrigue. Seven caught up to Six. "See? This is why we fight, Six. So they can be free" he said with determination. Six looked at him for a second and nodded.

"I won't hesitate next time...I'm sorry."

"Six, I think there is an afterlife after this. If one of us, both of us, or _all _of us end up as scrap on the field...I think there is a place for us. And we won't have to worry about our purpose, the battle, our lives, or anything. We'll be at peace. I truly do believe that."

Six's programming mimicked something of a smile to Seven as he nodded at him. "Thanks, Seven" he said before marching off.

Off to the next world.


	12. Chapter 12

Well, they _thought _they were going to the next planet, but he supposed not. It seems like they were staying here for the time being, until the clones made a full retreat off of the planet. Until then, Seven, Six, and Nine were deployed at the walls of Mandria to watch over for any scouts or infiltration crews.

As they watched over, there seemed to be a parade going on in the center of the city. There were even fireworks, apparently. Seven looks back at it, Nine looking back with him as well. Six still kept his eye outward. There was cheering, laughter, cries of joy, and loud music being heard from this far off. Nine chuckled a bit. "I doubt the Republic got that warm of a reception" he said.

"Because they act like greedy hutts: take everything and leave the corpse behind. Not us. These people get to live now...and we couldn't have done it without you, Nine" he said. Nine rubs the back of his head. "Aw, you don't have to say that, sir..." he said bashfully. Seven looked at Six. "You too, Six" he said to him.

Six didn't say anything. Seven and Nine look at each other. "You okay, Six?" Seven asked him.

"It's not right" Six said.

"What?"

"This isn't right. This whole operation...it was too easy. Something doesn't feel right."

"Are you saying that the clones let us take the city on purpose, sir?" Nine asked him.

"No, that's not whom I'm concerned about."

They fell silent for a moment. "Six...are you talking about the Confederacy?" Seven asked him.

"Yes, I am."

A small moment of silence again. "Why?" he asked him.

"Why did those ambassadors and governors come here so quickly? Why did they prepare this entire festival for everybody so quickly? Why was this whole blasted battle done so quickly? For droids saying you're sentient, I'm surprised no one actually thought of this."

"It was an easy battle, sir. Not everything needs to be drawn-"

"That's not what I mean!" he said as he turns toward the both of them fully. "The Confederacy _planned _for those governors to come here at the exact moment we took this city. This parade happened quicker than we even could've imagined. Why? Did they know we would win this quickly? I'm sure you must've thought of that, Seven. You're smarter than I am. Why would they send ambassadors down to a planet that still has Republic assets scattered across the globe? Why would they choose to make a parade for a city that could still be under attack by clones? I know why, and I'm sure you do too, Seven."

Seven was quiet, Nine still not following that well.

"They _knew _we'd win. They used the same blasted tactics that all of us droids are made to do: swarm until the opposition is eliminated. They didn't give us any directives, no special missions, nothing. Because we had the numbers and they didn't. It's as simple as that."

Seven and Nine stare at him, at a temporary loss for words until Nine himself spoke up. "Okay...so, they planned a party and knew that we would win. So what? They sent us into an easy mission, it's not like we can't have those. Isn't it better to go into a fight that's easier for us to win rather than one that we could lose?"

"He thinks the Confederacy has ill intentions, Nine" Seven suddenly said, Nine looking at him before back to Six. Six doesn't say anything until he decides to make his case.

"I know that the Confederacy that you and I fight for is there, Seven. It's there! I don't doubt that these people were unjustly ruled and abused by the Republic swine. But what about us? Have we even looked at our own side to think that _we _might be the bad guys, too? That the _real _Confederacy might be a ploy, or a facade? These banks...these _unions_...what does it all mean in the end for the people? If they can create a cheap army of droids that can barely sustain their own lives, what would that translate to for the people they've sworn to protect? Do you _really _think that they're in it for the people's best interests? That it's not for the credits that they can get off of them? That maybe, _just maybe_, the Confederacy is-"

"That's enough, Six" Seven said. Six stayed quiet as he looked at him. "I don't know. That's all I can say. I don't know. But I believed in those governors back on that escort mission. They seemed to believe in Dooku, and I do, too. Even if it was unintentional, the Confederacy gave me this new life. This new sense of purpose. This motivation to fight for freedom, so that everyone can be liberated. So that _we _can be liberated. You saw the Republic and how they treated those people, they couldn't care less about the people coming in as long as their bank accounts were full. The people here were _starving _and could barely talk to us because of their ineptitude to protect the transports giving them food. All the Republic does is talk, wait, make an order, and announce. By then, it's too late. A world gone under the ever watchful eye of the Republic. I _despise _abuse to those that ask for help, an unwillingness to help others. That's what I think this Confederacy was created for, to fight for independence and not have to rely on a government that has its own agendas and sits on their rears twiddling their thumbs. I refuse to believe that what we're doing is wrong. We gave these people hope, freedom, _lives_. Until I see something that destroys that belief completely, I won't know what you're talking about, Six. I'm sorry."

Six and Nine stare at him, Nine looking down at his feet as Six sighs quietly. "I understand, Seven. I hope you don't think that I won't continue to help the cause or abandon my post. I'm fighting this war to the bitter end, and I won't stray until those clones are off the map." Six's programming mimics something akin to a smirk, Seven replying with something in the lines of a smile. They grab each other's arms and look into the other's eyes.

"Til the end" Seven said.


	13. Chapter 13

A piece of shrapnel exploded and landed next to Seven's position, covering his head as it made a sharp ping as it hit the rocky surface and plummeted past him. Aiming down his blaster, he fires at several clones. One of them was shot as he fell forward, screaming as he fell toward Seven. He manages to move to the side as the clone fell down to the ground below.

He pats the dwarf spider droid he had hooked himself up to and points to the bridge where several clones were stationed on the cliff side. The spider droid aims and fires the concussive blast at the weak point on the bridge, the terrain giving way as it fell off and more clones plummeted down. He could see several other spider droids climbing up with some of his squad mates latched on. "I _hate _heights!" Zero yelled as he clings on and dodges a blaster shot. "We're almost there, just a little further!" he yelled over the chaos.

Looking back from the cliffs, he sees the large cavernous city of Junsus covered in blaster fire, armies of droids and clones clashing at each other along cliffs, hanging from stalactites, upside down, in the city streets and towers themselves. It was a warzone, several LAATs and droid gunships dogfighting in the empty caves of the dimly lit secondary city of the planet Tyreen. Thankfully, their optics adjusted easily in dim places like this so the battle wasn't a complete disadvantage.

Soon, the droids climbed their way to the top with PR leading the charge as he gets off the dwarf spider droid and continues to gun down some of the clones. The clones started to retreat deep into the dark caves. "It's best if we follow them and clean them out. We can't risk a counterattack on this place" PR stated as he looks at Seven.

"Agreed. Six, take point" he said as Six nods and heads in first. The rest followed suit as they slip into the narrow corridors of the cave.

Making their way through, it was deathly quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the subtle hums of their robotic limbs quietly and slowly moving through the tight cave. There were faint sounds of dripping deep within that echoed through the cave, keeping them on their guard. Six suddenly stops at a fork in the diverging paths as the others do. He points straight ahead as he turns on his lamp at the far right path. There was a thin line that reflected light off of it. Safe to assume that it was a trap hoping that it would catch any pursuers.

The others took note as they link up closely. Seven touches PR, Six, and Nine, pointing to go left while him, Zero, and another super follow him right. They nod silently as they maneuver carefully around the wire and slip by. Seven was careful in doing the same as he passes by the wired crevice with the others slipping by as well. They made sure to move cautiously through the caves as they kept watch for any ambushes or traps. Suddenly, a shot rings out and blasts past the three of them. They drop to the ground as Seven aims and fires straight ahead. It hits a wall, but two clones were seen hanging around the corner as they aim again. The super and Zero were quick on the draw to fire at them as the one on the right was shot straight in the chest and collapses. The one on the left was hit in the shin as he stumbles a bit. He aims and shoots at the super, grazing his left shoulder. Seven quickly fired at his head as he falls down with a hard thud.

"We gotta be quick, they'll surely hear that" Seven said quietly as he heads back up and starts to move out quickly. As they make their way through, the see a small camp. A band of clones were seen gathering what they could and trying to formulate a counterattack or retreat. Perhaps this was a rally point. They would have to act quick. Six and the others were seen at a far off entrance to where the clones were. Six nods as he readies his weapon, Seven doing the same. The droids pop out and start to gun them down. With quick succession, the clones were eliminated.

After checking to see if they were clear, Seven goes to the table and sees several holograms for battle plans. They were planning on rigging the entrances for the droids and picking off the rest. "Bantha fodder...they're gonna try and trap us!" Seven exclaimed as he grabs the map. "We gotta get this to the others and warn them. They already have an army ready to move in on queue...we have to move, now!"

Suddenly, they heard blaster fire from behind them as they spin around and see a small group of clones coming in and trying to attack them. PR was shot in the leg as he stumbles a bit, but aims and guns down one of them as he takes cover. Good thing for reinforced armor. The others try to hide behind the stalagmites and pick them off. The fight seemed to be going in their favor until they heard the all-too familiar click of a dreaded weapon. The rising shrill of a thermal detonator echoed the walls as the droids froze and quickly try to find the culprit. Out of the three clones, one from the far back was cooking the grenade as he let the timer count down. Nine quickly takes aim and fires his blaster at the clone, but the grenade was already tossed right at his feet.

Panic ensued in Seven's circuits as he was about to tell them to run, but the detonator's tone was already getting higher by the millisecond. That is, until Six scoops up the detonator in his hand and barely tosses it away.

A small but powerful explosion hit him no more than a few inches from his face as Seven heard a pained yelp.

The stalactites from above shook and collapsed where Six was. Seven felt dread in his programming. "SIX!" he yelled as he pops out and angrily guns down the clones before rushing over to the blast zone. From around the rubble, he sees Six's head and left arm sticking out from under the debris. "Six! Six, answer me!" he yells. They heard from the clone radios that they heard the explosion and were sending in a platoon to investigate. But, Seven didn't care. He needed to know that Six was okay.

"Six! Wake up, blast it! WAKE UP!"

Suddenly, a hard fritz was sounded as Six looks around. "...Seven..." he grunted. "Six!" he exclaimed. "Move the rocks, we have to get him out of here!" he yelled as the droids try to move it, but the rocks were too large and heavy to even move. "One at a time, we have to move them one at a time! PR, me, Nine and Zero will move this one and-"

"Seven..."

"Don't talk, we'll get you out of here! Just hold on."

"Seven...leave..."

Seven stopped and looked at him, shaking his head. "No. PR, Zero, Nine, get into pos-"

"Please...go. They're coming."

"I don't care, I'm going to get you out! We'll hold them off and get out of this."

"I'm dead weight, Seven. I'm not getting out of this. They've rigged this place, too."

"What?!"

Six points at under the table and notices the explosives rigged up. Heavy amounts of thermal detonators were linked up. They must've been planning on droids to enter here as well, cover their escape. "We'll get out of here before that happens, we just-"

PR steps in and puts a hand on his chassis. "Seven. Be rational. We need to leave."

Seven roughly shrugs his hand away from him. "Get the hell off of me and help him!" he yelled as he looks at them. Nine and Zero look down in defeat, PR and the super just staring at him like it was pointless to help. Seven looked at them with programming akin to a glare as he shakes his head. "Fine, I'll do it myself!" he snarled as he tries to grab the rocks and push them off. The rocks were too heavy for his thin chassis. He just had to believe like last time. He had to believe that he could move it like he did with that debris when he first woke up. He could do it. _He_ _could do it_...

But nothing was giving. Seven grunts and struggles. "Blasted rocks, move!" he grunted. Suddenly, he felt a hand touch his arm as he looks down and sees Six staring at him. Seven felt something. Like desperation...or despair. Something he didn't want to feel again. No, he wasn't going to let this happen! Not another friend! Not another Eighty. Six's grip on Seven's arm tightened, but only slightly because of how weak he was.

"Seven...you have to leave me. Please...give me a gun...and I'll take them down with me...I'm not done fighting..." he said.

Seven didn't want to do any of it. He was in control, he could do this. He just needed more time. That's all he needed. Six looked at him and shook his head, like he knew what he was thinking. "Get...out of here..." he grunted. PR couldn't stand looking at this as he grabs Seven and tries to pull him away.

"NO! PR, LET ME GO! BLAST IT, LET ME GO! LET ME GO, YOU TRAITOR!" he yelled out in the cavern. Nine goes over to Six with his head down as he hands him a blaster. Six made something akin to a smile in his programming as he looks at Nine. "Link me to the radio...I want to talk to him...before I go..." he said. Nine nods as he hooks him up before following the rest.

Six sighs quietly before he links up. "Seven-"

"Six! Just hold out a bit longer, we'll come back! If this cursed super would let me go, I wouldn't resort to this! Please, don't do anything!"

"It's okay, Seven...I'm not afraid anymore. I think I'm...happy. I won't have to worry about thinking...about my short-lived future...about anything. I can rest, Seven."

"Oh, maker...Six, please! Don't!"

From far off, Six could hear the echoes of hustling clones coming close by.

"I think there is an afterlife for us, Seven. I really do think so. Not the Force like for the Jedi...but I think there is a place for all of us. I'll be able to feel the rain...the wind...the sun...I'll be there to feel it all, soon. I hope you do, too."

Seven was now desperately clawing and trying to pull himself away from PR, but PR was doing what he and the others thought was best as they hustled out of the cave and saw the light at the end. Even if PR wanted to help his comrade as well.

"SIX! STOP THIS!"

The clones came pouring in as they started to search the area. Six aims at the rigged explosives.

"Good bye, Seven."

He fires.

* * *

The explosion sent the droids flying out of the cave and onto the familiar Tyrenese grassy plains, the storm kicking into high gear as the rain poured down onto their chassis hard and the lightning and thunder roaring around them. Seven was quick on his feet as he rushes back to the entrance. "Six, answer me!" he yelled out into the radio. Only a sickly crackle and fritz was heard on the other end. Reaching the entrance, he saw that it was caved in completely and the rocks completely blocked it.

"SIX, RESPOND! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE!" he said as he tries to move the rocks out of the way. The other droids stumble to their feet and watch Seven desperately try to avoid the inevitable. No matter how many rocks he moved, several more took its place. Seven continued to dig and dig until he slowed down and collapses onto it with his head pressed against the rocks.

Not being able to fully express these newfound emotions was frustrating. Painful. He wanted to release all of this, to just let all of this go, but he couldn't. His limited body prevented him from doing anything except keep all of his despair and sorrow internally.

He starts punching the rocks violently, not sure what he was doing anymore. Neither were the droids as PR goes over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "Seven" he said.

Seven looks at him with something akin to a glare as he punched him in the face, PR stumbling back a bit slightly. "I could've saved him! Why would you do that?!"

"It was futile."

"You don't know that!"

"The odds were against us, I did what needed to be done. That's what you taught us."

"You don't know anything! We always find another way!"

"There _was _no other way."

"Stop talking like a droid and star-"

"I'm sorry."

Seven paused as he looks at PR. PR looked at him solemnly as thunder roared again, the rain pouring down hard on the squad of droids. PR's head tilted down slightly.

"...I'm sorry..." he said again. "...I did what I had to..."

The super looks down some more in defeat as Seven watched him. Seven looks up at the rain and thundering storm raging overhead, hoping to let the lightning strike him down and end this torment. He lost his first friend. His first true brother. And he was gone. Another comrade lost to war.

Zero just looks down solemnly while Nine drops his gun and sits down in the soaked grass. The other super takes a knee, almost in honor of the fallen.

A heavy price paid, but the storm raged ever more.


	14. Chapter 14

How long has he stared at that village? Did he even bother recharging his battery through all that time? It was well into morning when Seven was perched on the sandy, rocky hill, overlooking this small and humble village. He saw several clones passing by every so often, only a very small few were seen hanging around there briefly before passing on. Neutral ground, perhaps? Seven would have to wait on the intel to see if that statement held up.

It was well into morning and he continued to stare at this modest setting. His thoughts weighed heavily on him. Ever since he left Tyreen and his platoon sent onto this planet Ymir, he had gone forlorn in his thoughts. Six was gone. Forever. And it felt like a part of him, his counterweight, was dissipated. Was he going to continue fighting this war knowing that his death was as futile as everyone else's? Would he finally fall in line and give up this newfound sentience? After coming _this _far?

He didn't know. He just stared at this place, watching the same 5 villagers that chatted and greeted the clones passing through. It was bizarre for simply 5 villagers to be there in a larger village setting, but he started to have his doubts on whether this village was all that it seemed to be.

Six perished believing that this awareness was what made him worse, made him doubt the cause of the Confederacy. Why? Even if he died fighting for the cause, he died _believing _that the side they were on wasn't right, even if he didn't outright say it. Seven would never get a chance to ask him. His arrogance and blinded nationalism to the Confederacy caused Six to perish thinking that he was the outcast. An awful way to go...and Seven started to feel that same sense of despair, regret, and sorrow he felt, now even more. Maybe, if an afterlife exists, he'll apologize to him. Show him that he was right where he belonged, even if it Seven didn't agree with his views.

Seven wanted to fight for this independence. He wanted the people to live a life without a care in the world, like these people are. To live like this, despite the unbecoming size of it. A peaceful life without war. Was that even a concept in this galaxy? So much violence and destruction, who knows how long even a modicum of peace would be conjured to last. But if the Confederacy would help maintain that, then so be it. And he'll die trying.

Someone puts a hand on his shoulder. Seven calmly looks over. It was Nine.

"Sir."

"Nine."

"You should recharge your battery. In case any intel comes in."

"I'm fine, Nine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, there's been talk from the higher-ups, the Grievous and Dooku kind, that this place is a Republic munitions route under guise. We're about to get a confirmation soon, I believe." So much for neutral ground. Considering that this place was very inconspicuous, it wouldn't be surprising if the villagers were smuggling guns to them.

"What are they planning to do?"

"Bombard it."

"Any confirmation of civilians in there?"

"Nothing about that, as far as I know. Could be evacuated and the ones down there we keep seeing every shift" he said, pointing to the 5 "villagers" below. "could be Republic spies fronting as villagers."

"Maybe. They could be stockpiling a lot of ammo in those houses, if it's that empty. Better to destroy it all, make sure we leave them defenseless."

Nine simply nods as he sits down next to Seven, Seven still keeping an eye on them. Nine decided to speak up. "Sir...I know what happened down there is hard to let go...but he saved us. It's not your fault. He knew this would happen, eventually."

Seven was silent. Nine sighs quietly before he hushes up. Better to let the wound to heal on its own.

* * *

After a few hours, the command droid chimed in on the comms. "Attention. Orders coming in: raze the village. Bombardment has been authorized. All unknown assets are to be considered Republic enemies. Eliminate anything and everything there." The command droid ends the order as the the large platoon of droids gather around on the hill, ready to strike.

"You heard him, Nine. Patch me through to VT."

"Patching..."

Suddenly, he heard the comms come to life.

"Seven" the _Vulture_ droid boomed.

"Hey, VT. Bombing run has been authorized on the village, mark 5-3-17 at 7-2. Can you confirm?"

"Confirmed. Initiating bombing run."

Seven keeps his head down. "The thunder's coming, get low!"

The roar and hiss of droid starfighter engines could be heard echoing throughout the sandy and rocky wasteland, 2 _Vulture _droids making leading the charge from high up past the sun with 5 _Hyena_-class droid bombers following in tow. VT was seen on the far left, the roaring becoming louder as it soon started to bear down on the village. The two droids start to fire down, the lasers piercing and blasting down several buildings easily as they roar off. But the real light show came from the bombers. The _Hyenas _fly close, but straight across the village in a V formation. They drop their loads square on top of the houses, the bombs exploding instantly upon impact and leveling whatever was unfortunate enough to be in its way. The shock waves of the bombs blasted back a large cloud of sand and rocks over the platoon past the hill. Once Seven got back up, he looks over the hill and sees fires from afar and...blaster fire? Looking past the smoke, he sees that another platoon of droids was deployed on the opposite side of the village.

"Nine? Were we told that another platoon was there?"

"Uh...no, sir."

Seven started to hear screams and shouts from the village. Not clones. He felt...something wrong. He dashes off as the platoon started to follow suit. Seven runs through the smoke and rubble of the collapsed houses to see what was going on, the screams and shouts becoming louder as the droids were fighting the enemy. Seven was ready to join in on the fray, but...he didn't hear any return fire from the enemy. If there were, he couldn't hear them amongst the cacophony. This wasn't right. Something felt off.

Seven kept walking until he tripped and fell over a piece of debris. He struggles a bit until he sees something sticking out from under the rubble. It was...a hand. A human hand. Was that a villager...or a clone? There wasn't a weapon nearby. Looking at the houses and the scorched earth, there was various furniture and blocks littered throughout the streets. But not a single weapon or munitions to be seen. What was going on?

Then, he saw it.

Under a large pile of rocks, sticking out from the debris, was a tiny, burnt hand clutching to some sort of doll. A child.

Seven froze.

Civilians.

They were blasting _civilians_!

He heard more screams as he holsters his gun and heads toward the sounds. He sees droids breaching into their houses, more screams heard, and blaster fire ringing inside. "Stop! They're civilians!" he yelled out, but no one heard him. He saw some droids toss villagers out of their homes, tearing them away from their families as they shouted for them to come back. The droids blasted them all down separately. "THEY'RE INNOCENT! THEY'RE NOT REPUBLIC!" he screamed out.

But no one heard him.

Suddenly, he sees Zero line up a group of villagers against the wall, three droidekas rolling up over the rubble and unfolding in front of them, arming themselves. "Zero, stop!" he yelled out as he rushes over to them. Zero looks at him, making a questioning tilt. "Seven? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! These are innocent people we're slaughtering, there's no weapons here! There are no clones, no weapons, ammo, nothing! We need to stop this, right now!"

Zero looks at him and nods. "You're right. We do need to stop this" he said to him. He looks at the droidekas. "Fire."

The droidekas unload into the villagers with deadly accuracy as they all fell over dead. Seven was frozen in utter shock, looking at Zero incredulously. "Seven, with all due respect, even if they weren't Republic assets, they soon would be. This is the only course of action to show them that the Confederacy, that _we_, mean business. Fear will keep them in line and not fall over to the Republic."

"Wha...what are...what are you talking about?" he asked, completely exasperated.

"I refuse to let another surprise attack happen on my watch, Seven. You taught us to be better than the enemy, think smarter. And you were right. Now I know not to trust anyone that isn't us. I'm not going to let any villagers suddenly ambush us because we didn't know any better and believed them to be with good intentions. That's what Eighty believed..." he said, trailing off a bit as he looks down slightly before quickly regaining himself. "No more."

"Zero...this...this isn't the way. This isn't the way! This isn't what the Confederacy stands for! We're supposed to free them from tyranny and corruption, not make them fear us! We're supposed to be the heroes, we're slaughtering innocent blood. Men, women, children! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"

"No, it doesn't" he answered without missing a beat.

Seven froze.

"They're organic and live much more fulfilling lives than us droids, Seven. We were made for combat. Cheaply, I might add. But you gave us more: intent. And I _intend _to see my mission through. Their lives are as fleeting as ours. Their blood on this sand means nothing to me. They're my mission. And I'm ending it proper." Zero left, blaster rifle in hand as he heads off.

Seven didn't know what to do. He stands there, completely shocked and out of his element. What was his life? Was it a lie, now? Was the Confederacy lying to him? Was Zero twisting Seven's view...or was that was Seven really believed, inherently? Was Six right?

He collapses on the sand, nearby the fallen villagers, staring in complete dissociation as to the events unwinding around him.

Now, he was branded a slaughterer. A malicious weapon.

_A murderer._


End file.
